


The Bartender

by BlazeRuko



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Anxiety, Attempt at Humor, Bartender Karma, Depression, Ft. Gakushuu being awkward while trying to properly interact with a three year old, Hurt his son and Karma will cut a bitch, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Karma is a good dad, Karma is trying his best, Korosensei is also trying his best, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Panic Attacks, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Drug Use, Past Sexual Abuse, Slow Burn, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-27 05:25:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14418615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazeRuko/pseuds/BlazeRuko
Summary: Karma is a single dad who runs a bar with the help of his adoptive father. He lives with his son, Aoi, and is just trying to give him the best life possible—the life he never had.Gakushuu is starting over after being manipulated and controlled by his father for far too long. New in town and living out of his car, he comes into the bar one night just before closing time. Boy, is he a funny drunk.The two men are drawn to each other and they hit it off right away. But what'll happen when their dark pasts decide to come back and haunt them?





	1. Karma

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I was bored at like three in the morning and it seemed like a good idea to post this. It’s been sitting for over a year and I started working on this amongst other works again a few months ago, and tonight when I couldn’t sleep I was looking through my documents and decided what the hell? Let’s do it. So I cleaned it up and here we are. Almost 5:30 in the morning because apparently that’s how long it takes me to edit and fix the first chapter of this because it was riddled with issues and then ao3 was being a bitch. Hopefully there are no mistakes. Because I lack creativity when it comes to titles, it’s this for now, but I may change it in the future. 
> 
> If you read DNA, then you know I don’t have a schedule and updates will probably be pretty irregular. Sorry about that. 
> 
> It starts off pretty heavy, Karma suffering and going through a lot of horrible shit. This first chapter is just to kind of get a feel for Karma and what he’s been through. Actual interactions and stuff start next chapter. I tagged everything I could think of, but let me know if there is something important that I missed. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

Karma stood at the bar with a lazy smile on his face, greeting customers and taking their orders diligently and swiftly. Being in the business for so long, it wasn't a hard thing for him to do… he knew how to read and talk to people. It was a gift, really; a gift that came with the price of abuse. He hadn't always been so laid back and carefree… no, not at all. His past was nothing if not terrible, and he had to work extremely hard to get where he was today. 

xx

Pretty much his entire childhood, his parents either left him home alone, or abused him for pretty much any reason they felt necessary. Soon, he learned how to read their moods and how to speak with them so that they maybe took it a little easier on him; anything to make the heavy load on his tiny shoulders a little lighter. Walking on eggshells and figuring people out became a need to know skill for him, especially when his extended family was around because if he said anything wrong, hell ensued once they had gone. Be it confined to his room… smacked across the face… yelled and screamed at… thrown down the stairs… choked until he passed out… beaten until he passed out. It just depended on how merciful they were feeling at the time. Ridiculous as it may sound, he felt the yelling and screaming was the worst punishment… they just tore him down and made him feel like absolute shit: worthless, useless, a fucking idiot child, how they sometimes wished he was never born, how he needed to just shut up and do as he was told or else they would sell him. It hurt. 

As a result of childhood trauma and abuse, he kind of drifted into the wrong crowd… started drinking and smoking at the ripe age of 12, got into fights with anyone who gave him lip, mouthed off to his teachers, ditched class or showed up late, and basically didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. After the cops had been called a fair amount of times for his fighting and being caught out after curfew, his folks decided to hire a babysitter so they wouldn't have to deal with Karma and his idiocy; the difficult task of keeping Karma in check and in the house was passed down to another. Akira Takaoka was his name: a family friend of theirs that they'd apparently known for a long time even though Karma had never met him before, and Karma despised him from the second they'd locked eyes. Of course it was normal for him to despise anyone he met, being the standoffish, rebellious teen he was, but it was different that time; something in his gut told him to steer clear of him. It was surprisingly difficult for Karma to read the man, but he knew something was definitely off about him. 

His homelife was getting worse, and Takaoka was a real piece of shit to him. It was around three months after he was pretty much placed on house arrest that things became… _weird_ with the man who looked after him. It was the first long trip his parents had gone on since he'd been hired and while they'd been alone countless times, it never felt so… tense. Now Karma was no stranger to adult topics such as violence, drugs, and sex, so when Takaoka suddenly pinned Karma's hands above his head, caged in his much smaller body with his own, and started touching him, he knew exactly what was going on. No matter what he did, no matter how much he fought, kicked, bit, or screamed, the man wouldn't get off of him. He didn’t stop. For the first time in his life, he felt absolutely powerless and helpless to do anything, and he desperately wanted his parents to come back home. But they didn't, and that disgusting, large man had his way with the teenager until he was nothing more than a sobbing mess in bed. 

Takaoka threatened him, of course, and Karma locked himself in his room until the door was busted open and he was forcefully dragged out by the man two days later; he was force fed and then taken advantage of, yet again. This time, he couldn't even cry; the sheer shock of everything hit him like a ton of bricks and he just laid there, completely still. Paralyzed. Terrified. Disgusted. As much as he wanted it to stop, he couldn't do anything; Takaoka had threatened to kill him if he said anything to anyone, but that had nothing to do with his reasoning for not telling on him. His life didn't matter to him, but he definitely didn't want to admit to anyone what despicable acts he'd been forced to participate in… it was mortifying and he would never admit to such things. So he just dealt with it until he could come up with a viable solution. 

After about four months of playing cat and mouse: where Karma kept trying to run away and always got caught or found within a damn hour, he finally got the chance to get the fuck out of there without being stopped. Finally, after so long, Takaoka had left himself vulnerable and open; he was fucking plastered when he came into his room that night. With no hesitation whatsoever, Karma tightened his grip around his sharpened butterfly knife and sliced the man down his cheek and then kicking him in the balls as hard as he could before moving around him to hold the knife to his throat; the man froze in fear, cold blade already wet with blood pressing almost too hard into a fatal area on his throat. Karma restrained the drunk man and told him that if he followed him or tried to find him, that he would come clean about everything he’d ever done, tossing out some photographic evidence of some of their precious encounters, saying he had loads more. Not surprisingly, the man nodded, but Karma was still pissed so he pressed the blade deeper, making the man yelp. The moment he drew blood, Takaoka passed out and Karma smashed the man's cell phone, grabbed his already packed emergency bag, texted his parents to tell them he was going away and not coming back, and slipped out his window. 

So there he was, an almost 14 year old dropout, and fucking squatting. At first he was laying low, hanging out in cafés or other public places he could easily blend in or hide at, then sleeping and hiding out in abandoned buildings, or sometimes alleyways if he was spotted or there were other people there and he didn't feel like getting in a fight, just in case Takaoka or his parents were out looking for him; his parents weren't happy he was gone, for some reason. Those last two weeks had been utter Hell for him; no money, no food, no clean clothes, no warm, comfortable place to sleep. Honestly, he was lucky that he didn’t die; November was cold as fuck. There was also the fact that he was starting to smell despite all the deodorant and cologne he used to mask it; pitiful as he felt, he ended up sneaking into the school just so he could shower. It wasn't until he ran into one of his friends in the locker room after his basketball practice that he finally had a bed to sleep in again.

That was when he started couch hopping… going from friend to friend until he was either kicked out by their parents or his parents had caught wind of where he was at. After going from couch to couch for a couple of months, he finally found somewhere he could belong. Ironically enough, he found his safe haven in an old church that was now a small drug house. Being just a month over 14 years old, they were a little hesitant to let him in, but one of the older guys took to him right away and protected the slightly sketchy, beat up, incredibly violent teen under his wing. Karma was not allowed any of the drugs, mostly because he had no money to pay for things and was unable to get a job. Aside from pickpocketing, he really didn't have any means to earn a wage—if that even counted as earning? 

The man looking after him was… strange, to say the least. He went by Korosensei; no one knew his real name, and he often said if he told them he'd have to kill them, so not many people asked him. Ever since Karma stepped foot in that church, he refused to let him have anything but what he absolutely needed while he worked to wean him off of such things: alcohol (addicted), weed (fairly dependent), heroin (fairly addicted), and cigarettes (so, so addicted). A kid his age had no business doing any of that shit and he couldn't help but wonder what put him in such a shitty situation. Yeah, the kid had been through some shit, that much was clear; he had as much baggage as the rest of them, if not more. But drugs shouldn't have been his answer… they shouldn't have been his go to when he was stressed. But they were… it was like those were the only things he could turn to. The only things that wouldn't betray him in the end. Yeah, drugs could potentially kill him, but that wasn't news to him; what he was afraid of were people turning on him and hurting him. At least drugs got him high, but people…? Sketchy, devious snakes that were capable of completely ripping another person to shreds without even touching them. Humans were the scariest monsters in his eyes… even scarier than the hallucinations he got when he was tripping. 

Those golden eyes had so much more to tell, but the owner opted to stay silent because he didn't trust anyone, not even Korosensei completely. What if he was like Takaoka? What if he just wanted his body? What if he drugged him and took advantage of him!? What if all of them were like that!? Needless to say, the first few months, Karma was an absolute wreck upon being there and pretty much anywhere else where human interaction was inevitable. Especially one on one contact. His paranoia was out of control thanks to what he was put through; hell, he went days, sometimes a full _week_ without sleep and the man would have to force him to take sleeping pills so he would finally get some rest and stop hallucinating. But Korosensei didn't once give up on him, and he taught Karma how to better fend for himself if he wanted to ever make it out of this downward spiral. He was still so young, and so smart… so much potential. And Korosensei wanted to bring it out and show him that there was more to life than just surviving another day. There was more to life than getting high. That life could be fun and happy if he just tried to get out of this shithole. 

But as the months went on, Karma eventually came to enjoy his new home… his new friends. They accepted him for who he was and didn't judge him… they didn't hurt him like his parents did. No longer did he feel so alone in the world. It wasn't that he trusted them all that much, but he did enjoy the company they kept… hearing their stories and about their shit pasts, it made him feel like maybe he didn't have it so rough after all. By the time he turned 15, he was still addicted if not more so, and to more substances… the other guys had been giving him all the drugs he'd wanted and more behind Korosensei’s back, and in return… Karma did unspeakable things he swore he'd never do again. But this time, it was willingly. It made him feel like a cheap whore, and the sex was terrible, but it was worth it; all the pain and volatile things done to him was worth it because he wanted the high—the buzz. He wanted to forget everything for a little while. 

And they would let him. Enable him. Ruin him. Wreck him. In secret, of course. And he would let them. Because they were his family now, and even if he still didn't entirely trust them, they were always there for him. They gave him whatever he wanted and respected his boundaries or when he said he couldn't take anymore or needed a break. Little by little, they gained his trust. It wasn't until a few months later when Korosensei had disappeared for a while that he would regret trusting them even the tiniest bit. 

Grip… that was the first man who made a move on him. The moment Korosensei didn't return after two nights, he snuck up to Karma's room and knocked him out. Yet again, Karma was being treated than nothing more than a doll… just a pretty little thing to fuck. When Karma came to, he grabbed the butterfly knife he kept in his hoodie pocket at all times and fought back; he legitimately sliced him down the eye before sticking the knife through his fucking shoulder, tearing through the muscle and tendons. But not even that was enough to stop him on his cocaine high. Rather, he just shut Karma up with some shit that made him loopy and passive so he could do as he pleased with his body. Every day after, he continued to keep the teenager drugged up so that he was unable to defend himself; all the while, he was half conscious, but very much aware of what was happening to him. 

And the others started joining in, too. 

Yet again, he felt helpless… powerless. Unable to do anything but watch himself and his body be destroyed. His sense of self worth plummeted… soon he really felt like he was nothing more than a sex doll and acted as such. Slowly, they were snuffing out all the fire he had in him, replacing it with an emptiness he hadn't felt in so long that he'd almost forgotten what it felt like. 

Two and a half weeks. Karma had been in a constant drugged state for two and a half consecutive fucking weeks. For those 18 days, he was repeatedly raped and forced to watch and feel every single disgusting thing that they did to him. It was torture. He had nightmares, and things he called daymares; it didn't matter if he was conscious or not, he could always feel what they were doing and it never left his head. All he wanted to do was curl up, but he could hardly move a fucking muscle. He could barely open his eyes, his head was throbbing, his butt felt loose and torn. All in all, everything fucking hurt. The most he could do was cry and let out pathetic, broken pleas for them to stop. But they just smacked him before shooting him up with whatever they felt would fuck him up the most without killing him and continuing their sickening deeds. At one point, he was almost positive he had four penises inside of him and he felt like he was going to rip apart from both ends. Being dead sounded so good at that moment. With all the drugs they had in him, he was honestly surprised he hadn't died of fucking overdose. 

He'd never felt so fuckung stupid. What had he expected? Honestly… he should have known they would betray him. Everyone did. And they were the least trustworthy people he'd ever come across, yet he decided to trust them because he fell for their bullshit. In hindsight, he should have known from the very beginning because why would a bunch of drug addicted squatters be so fucking nice to him? Not to mention they were always touching him and playing with his hair; introducing him to new drugs that really fucked him up; trying to lead him off places when Korosensei wasn't looking. The most obvious thing was what he'd allowed himself to do: he gave himself to those assholes, and he saw the looks they gave him. They lusted for him, and they always had… they wanted more than he was willing to give. All they needed was to get him alone and boom. 

They got what they wanted. 

And Karma hated himself for letting it happen. 

When Korosensei returned, the unexpected happened: he took one look at Karma and his beaten, violated, cum stained body and lost it. Broken, glassy golden eyes met his grey ones and the man nearly started crying; how dare they do that to _his_ Karma!? How dare they snuff what little light he had left and replace it with cold, painful darkness; those once brightening golden eyes now looked so dull. So lost. So pained. He beat the everloving shit out of all of them before scooping Karma up and promising him a better life. Once he'd managed to get Karma dressed in some loose, comfy clothes and had all of their things packed, he went down to the meth lab, tampered with some things, and a few minutes after they got out of the vicinity of the church, it exploded with those sick sons of bitches inside. To be honest, Karma couldn't find it in himself to care… all he could do was curl up in the backseat under his blanket and bawl. 

They moved to an entirely new state and started over where no one could have possibly known them. Apparently that was what he had been doing for all those weeks… making preparations for them to start over together. It was far from easy, and it took a lot of time, work, and effort to get Karma off of all the drugs he'd had a dependence on, but they managed. The nightmares never stopped, so some prescription drugs were necessary, but Korosensei tried to help him the best he could. For instance, he allowed him to sleep in the same bed as him, held him when he had a nightmare, wiped his tears when he cried, helped him through his panic attacks, gave him space when he needed space, and didn't once make a comment if he ever wet the bed or had an attack. Karma couldn't help it; he was broken, and all he needed was someone to be there for him. 

Thankfully, both of them were able to get cleaned up, and Karma even got to go to school. Of course the nightmares never fully went away, he still craved the drugs and the high despite being clean, and he had immense trust issues, not to mention he self-mutilated and even relapsed a few times (getting back into the hard stuff and started selling himself since he didn't have cash), but Korosensei was always there to pick him up and piece him back together. Considering he knew exactly what Karma was going through, he was able to really empathize with him and get him to see what he was doing was wrong. Thanks to that man, Karma was able to stay clean from all the illegal stuff and not drink himself into a coma or smoke so much that he'd probably die of lung cancer by the time he was 30. Karma finally felt like himself again for the first time in years. For the first time, he actually valued his life and wanted to live it to the fullest. 

All thanks to him. 

Come to find out, Karma was actually pretty smart despite being out of school for a while and being on all sorts of drugs. Korosensei was surprised by his intellect, but Karma simply waved it off, telling him it wasn't a big deal and that he was only trying so hard so he could prove everyone who told him he was a whore and would amount to nothing that they were wrong! Most of them were dead now, but oh well. Extracurricular activities helped keep him occupied so he wouldn't feel the need to get high or drunk, and he discovered that he was actually pretty good at football and tennis. Which was a very good outlet for all his pent up anger and violent tendencies. Of course he still got in fights and was labeled a delinquent, but that was just who he was; fighting and rebelling and being a sadistic little shit was who he was and he wasn't changing a damn thing for anyone. 

Making friends was hard at first, and once he was comfortable enough to speak to a person, he basically just told them what they wanted to hear in fear they would hurt him, but he did eventually make some genuinely good friends. So many wonderful people came into his life. Some he was closer to than others. 

Like Itona, who introduced him to tattoos. Itona used to cut himself as well, and when he noticed Karma’s scars, he wanted to help; Karma was a good person, and no one should feel like he was feeling. Unfortunately Itona was no stranger to that awful feeling; he knew how dark and lonely it got, having gone through depression himself, and he knew just how shitty it felt after the initial pain was gone… when all he was left with was his bleeding, stinging arms and a hollowness in his chest. So he told Karma about his solution. Anytime he felt an unbearable need to cut and couldn't get himself calmed down, he went to get a tattoo. It was painful, and permanent, but at least they were more beautiful than the scars he would have left. Soon, Karma fell into that same habit and his arms were full by the time they graduated. 

And Ryouma, who worked out with him or went jogging with him anytime he needed to clear his head. They also drank together on occasion, under Korosensei’s supervision of course (couldn't have Karma relapsing) and he was the person who helped Karma figure out what he wanted to do with his life. 

Then there was Nagisa, who was always so sweet, kind, and considerate; he was always there when Karma needed a shoulder to cry on. When it came to his dark, haunting past, Nagisa was the only person that Karma felt comfortable enough tell for quite some time. Much to his relief, aside from the night he'd told him, Nagisa didn't treat him any differently. That night, he'd cried and hugged him and held him, telling him how brave and strong he was. But after that, things were normal… they were just closer. 

Karma loved all these new people he met and was glad to have them in his life. He graduated high school as the valedictorian, and got a full ride into a wonderful college where his closest friends went as well. Even though they told him it wasn't just because they wanted to stay by his side… he knew it was. Finally, he had people he knew he could trust with anything, and who genuinely wanted to be by his side with no ulterior motives. And to be honest, he'd never been happier. Having people who loved him made him feel warm and tingly, and he never wanted them to go away. In college he had relapsed again… but thankfully Korosensei and his friends were there to help him through it. Many mistakes were made that time, though… mistakes Karma would never be able to run away from. 

Korosensei saved his life and gave him a fresh start… he helped him gain people who were good for him, and he would be eternally grateful. 

xx

“Karma!” Nagisa waved in his face, snapping Karma out of his daze.

“What!?” He jumped back, nearly falling to the floor. Considering his past, he'd always been fairly jumpy, so when his hand went directly for his knife, Nagisa took a few steps back. Looks like he'd really caught him at a bad time because this usually didn't happen anymore. Glazed over golden eyes darted around in a panic, scoping out the area for danger and whatever had just pushed him back. Upon spotting Nagisa's panicked, fearful face, his eyes softened and he dropped his weapon. Fuck, he thought he was over that phase. “S-Sorry,” he ducked his head down, trying to keep his breathing steady. 

Slowly, Nagisa reached out and ran his delicate fingers down Karma's cheek, smiling gently to let him know that he wasn't angry and that everything was okay. Growing up the way he did, Karma usually thought he was in trouble any time he fucked up or scared someone… and Nagisa really hated that. Seeing his normally haughty and playful best friend look so scared and submissive like that, it made his chest hurt. None of what that man went through was his fault, and he shouldn't feel so ashamed when he accidentally slipped back into that mode. That wasn't a habit one could so easily break away from, and everyone who knew him understood that. “Hey, hey look at me.” It took a few moments, but those golden eyes eventually glanced up at him, flickering like a dying flame. “Karma, I'm not mad. It's okay. You want to talk about it?”

Did he? Kind of. Would he? No. That part of his life was done and he wanted to just rid himself of such a shameful, disgusting past. It wasn't who he was anymore… he had new, wonderful people in his life and thinking back to then was just harmful to all of them. Why couldn't he just wake up one day and forget it? Why couldn't he just be fucking normal, for _once_? “No, I'm fine,” he smiled, hiding his shaking hands beneath the bar so Nagisa wouldn't be able to tell that he was far from fine. Whenever he got so lost in thought while thinking about his past, it just reminded him of how he didn't deserve any of what he had now: Korosensei, his wonderful friends, his own bar, his own apartment… his child. “I just want to get home so the sitter doesn't get mad again.” He had a tendency of being late, and he often mistook tiredness for anger in those he was close to. The dude knew what he was signing up for when Karma told him he ran a bar; late nights were to be expected. But Karma just wouldn't listen and continually apologized for things that he didn't need to apologize for. 

“Well wiping the same spot on the counter for thirty minutes isn't going to get you home any sooner.” Nagisa smirked as Karma looked down at the counter; yep, he'd just been continuously wiping the same area in between absentmindedly making drinks for his patrons. He'd been bartending for so long that it was pretty much second nature for him. Even before he owned his own bar, he'd been making drinks since he was 13, and was a bartender in college. Alcohol had unfortunately always been a very big part of his life and he was positive it always would be. Thankfully he had gotten over his alcohol dependency, he had to because of his son, and was pretty much sober for the most part. “If you wanna head home, Terasaka and I can hold down the fort.” Even after college, they continued to stay by Karma's side: Terasaka was one of his bouncers, Itona and Nagisa were bartenders, and Korosensei helped him run the place. Of course he had more staff, but they were the only ones he would ever trust to run the place in his absence. 

One glance around the establishment and he shook his head, there were too many people there and if he left, he could miss out on some tips from his regulars. Some people came there specifically for him and refused to be taken care of by anyone else. “Two more hours ain't gonna kill me. Aoi is asleep, so it's not like I'll be able to see him anytime soon anyway.” But he did like being home for his son, asleep or not… it made him feel safer—like he was doing his job as a dad.

One look at those slightly downcast golden eyes and Nagisa knew what he was thinking. Due to his own abuse, he'd always been pretty good at reading people, too, especially Karma. “Hey, stop worrying about not being good enough,” he smiled, pulling Karma into a hug. Usually Karma didn't like being touched, but his family was the exception. “You're a good dad. You're doing your best to give him the life you didn't have and I swear he knows that you love him, even if you aren't there all the time.” A customer got Nagisa's attention and he reluctantly left after giving Karma a chaste kiss on his cheek. 

“I know,” he whispered to himself. And he did know, but he also knew what it was like to never have your parents around… what it felt like to be constantly alone, wondering if they were ever going to come back. Unlike his own mother, Aoi's mother was genuinely never going to come back… she gave up her rights because she didn't want a child and Karma wasn't going to force her to love the child she never wanted. Not when it was his fault that the child happened.

xx

It was during his relapse, that much he knew for sure. But everything about that night in particular was hazy… he vaguely remembered he'd just broken up with his girlfriend because she'd wanted something serious and he wasn't ready for what she wanted: intimacy. She always got extremely angry with him when he kept denying her advances, one night it went too far and he dumped her on the spot… if she wasn't going to respect his boundaries then he didn't need her. Alone and upset, he went to a party, met a hot blonde, and things went entirely black until he woke up the next morning, naked and next to a woman in a bed that was not his own. Of course he freaked out because he hadn't had sex with anyone since the drug house… and he didn't recall ever being with a female. So he called Korosensei from the bathroom, where he proceeded to break down until the man had successfully talked him through one of the worst anxiety attacks he'd ever had. 

Once he had calmed down, he cleaned himself up and went back in the room to find her sitting up, just smiling at him. Irina was her name, he found out then, and thankfully she was nice and chill about everything. They spent the day together, awkwardly getting to know each other while trying to remember what the fuck had happened the night before, dancing around the subject that they'd woken up naked together. As it turned out, both of them had been trying to let the other down easy, and they both cracked up when they realized their feelings were mutual: just friends. When she found out she was pregnant, there was no doubt in her mind that it was Karma's; he was the only person she'd had sex with in months. So she called him up, met him for coffee, and explained things; they had to make a decision about what they were going to do with the baby, and Karma didn't really know what to do.

Despite the initial shock, it didn't feel like his world was crashing down around him like it probably would have years before at the thought of being a daddy. In fact, it kind of excited him for some strange reason. Since they were still pretty young, they decided to talk to their friends and family about everything for some advice, and Irina was pretty much set on adoption, but Karma… he wanted the child. Yeah, there were some pretty big problems with him becoming a single daddy: he was only 19; pretty uneducated when it came to children, family, and the like; love was a foreign feeling for him; he had a history of drug and alcohol problems; and he had no idea how to raise a child. But he wanted it, and when he wanted something, he usually worked hard to get it. 

Korosensei and his friends were very unhappy with his decision considering the reason the child happened was because he was too fucked up to remember he hated sex. Of course they fought, and they all yelled things that they didn't mean… When Karma stormed away crying, they realized they had probably gone a little too far and were incredibly too harsh on him considering what he was currently going through, so they went after him, but it was too late—Karma was gone and nowhere to be found. They'd broken him, and they weren't sure things would ever go back to normal after how much shit they just spewed at him: 

_”You can't raise a kid when you can't even take care of yourself!”_

_“What child wants an alcoholic, druggie for a fucking father!?”_

_“This is one of the stupidest things you've ever said, Karma. What the fuck is wrong with you!?”_

_“This child didn't ask to brought into the world, so you need to give it its best chance… I'm sorry, but that's not with you…”_

_“Think of the child! Would they really want to grow up with a father who puts drugs and alcohol before them!? A father who has panic attacks and freaks out over everything!?”_

_“What happens when you decide to fucking relapse!? Huh!? What happens to the child when you're so fucked up that you can't get out of bed to take care of it!? Stop being stupid, Karma. You're not capable of raising a fucking child.”_

_“You're being a selfish piece of shit like always and you know it, Karma… you can't do this, and we all know it. This is one thing I'm telling you that you absolutely cannot do because you are far too fucked up to handle it. If being with you is the only other option, it's better off being aborted.”_

It was hard to tell who said what at that time given how angry he was, but he knew for a fact Korosensei said that last one; and it looked like everyone else agreed. It really, really hurt. 

After that, none of them really spoke to each other and Karma ended up alone again… yet again on the streets because he didn't want to live with Korosensei or any of his friends at that moment. He knew they were just worried because none of them wanted him to suddenly relapse again when the stress and pressure of caring for a newborn finally got to him; they were probably afraid he would snap and kill both the child and himself. But he had grown and matured… of course being a dad was scary, but he could handle it. Karma knew he could handle it. He'd gone through so much and fought so hard up to that point that he felt comfortable enough to do it. Irina let him move in with her when she found out what happened and that was when he kind of spilled the beans about his drug issues. It made a lot more sense as to why his friends were all mad, but he didn't deserve any of what they said; it simply wasn't true. Karma had matured quite a bit over the years; yes, Karma made a mistake, but he wasn't a bad person, and he hadn't done any of the hard drugs that time around, so… she trusted him so long as he cleaned up and stayed cleaned up. 

True to his word, he sobered up. It was hard doing it all on his own, but he needed to prove that he was ready for this step in his life. Both for his friends, and himself: Karma Akabane was capable of taking care of himself and another person. Irina was there for him when shit was tough and he missed his friends, but he knew he couldn't face them until he was back at 100 percent. Seeing Karma so determined to overcome his struggles and really shape up, it made her really happy. To think he wanted to be a father that badly… at that point, she decided she would stick around with them. Maybe being a mommy wouldn't be so bad after all, especially if it meant she got to be with Karma, who had really grown on her. Karma was excited, of course, because now their child would have both parents in their life. They'd be a real family. And he wanted that so badly… for his baby to grow up properly and have the closest thing to a perfect life as possible. 

It wasn't until the next semester that someone finally spoke to Karma. Itona had the same physical education tennis course with him and the second he saw Karma's bright red hair enter the courts, he ran over and jumped on him, apologizing for everything that had happened. At first he had freaked out, not used to being touched so suddenly, but when he realized it was just Itona he pretty much broke down right then and there. It caused a pretty big scene and no one was really sure what was going on… but the two of them didn't care. They were just happy to see each other again after so long. Itona told him everyone was so worried about him and kept trying to get ahold of him, which was when Karma bit his lip and told him he snapped his phone in half after their fight and didn't really want to buy a new one. Itona made him talk about everything that had happened in their absence and Karma was more than happy to tell him he was pretty much clean aside from smoking maybe 3-5 cigarettes on a daily basis and occasionally drinking, which was normal for him. 

Itona wanted them all to meet up so they could apologize and be friends again, but Karma wasn't so sure they could ever really go back to normal; with Itona it was okay because he really didn't say much during their fight, but everyone else? They said things… and Karma wasn't sure he could so easily forget how much they'd hurt him. It took Karma a while to agree, but finally they decided to meet up at one of the cafés on campus so long as Irina was able to come with him for emotional support. Soft, teary blue eyes met his own as the two of them walked inside and Karma nearly broke down. He'd never meant to hurt Nagisa… not that badly. To be blunt, he looked like an absolute wreck: dark bags under his eyes; long hair messy and wild; his skin was paler than normal; body thinner than he already had been. All in all, he looked sick and sleep deprived… and scarily similar to a heroin user going through withdrawals. But Nagisa would never do that, so Karma knew he was probably just overly anxious and freaking out for leaving Karma on his own for so long. 

“Uh, hey…” He'd bowed his head, not meeting anyone's eyes in fear of crying or seeing how much they hated him now. But they didn't hate him, he knew that much when Nagisa latched onto him like a koala—crying and apologizing like a broken record—and the others sincerely apologized before asking how he was doing with everything and wanted to know every detail about the baby. 

Just like that, his fears and anxiety melted away and things were normal… he'd really missed them, and never wanted anything like that to happen again. 

Everything was perfect until two months after Aoi, his beautiful baby boy, was born… Irina seemed a little odd that night, so when Karma woke up at three in the morning to check on Aoi and she was sitting at the table with a bunch of papers while nursing him, he wasn't sure what to expect. She just gave him this lost look before explaining that she'd already filled out all the legal work, and that parenting wasn't for her. She said she loved Karma, probably more than anyone else she'd ever dated, but the whole baby thing was just… too much for her. Karma was a little upset to have this dropped on him so suddenly, but understood and wasn't going to force her into anything; honestly, he should have seen it coming because despite her bubbly, clingy nature with him, she'd always been rather distant, and often times annoyed, with their son. They agreed on everything and Karma moved out of her apartment and back with Korosensei within two days. 

It was stressful, but Karma didn't turn to drugs once after Aoi was born. And thankfully Irina was still around for a while so she could pump and give Karma breast milk for his little Aoi: the precious little boy who turned everything around for Karma and would continue to do so for the rest of his years.


	2. Give me your Strongest Cocktail and a Trio Shot of Whatever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karma serves Gakushuu at the bar and gets to know him a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got bored and edited this last night, but passed out before I got around to posting. Whoops. Start work full-time next week so updates will be slower after that. Getting what I can out now. Will probably add one or two more chapters to this today.

“Karma, you're doing it again,” Nagisa snapped in his face, this time kneeling on one of the stools and leaning over the bar so he wouldn't startle Karma as badly. It worked and Karma calmed down the moment their eyes met. “Really, you can go home, hon.”

It was about 40 minutes until closing time, but Karma really didn't want to leave; it made him feel guilty when he left his friends there while he got to leave early. That was pretty much abusing his power as the owner and taking advantage of his friends’ kindness, right? “I'm fine, Nagisa,” he smiled softly at the small male, patting his head before starting on the rest of the bar. One spot was definitely clean, but other than that spot, it was pretty dirty. They had some particularly messy drunks that night and Karma didn't want his staff to have to clean it all by themselves. 

Nagisa pouted at him, puffing out his cheeks and crossing his arms over his chest; the deadly look that Karma couldn't say no to…! So Karma just outright refused to look at him because he was not fucking falling for that ever again. ‘Dammit… a loophole,’ Nagisa grumbled in his head. But he decided to just leave the man be… he'd be fine the next morning, surely. Aoi always seemed to make him feel better on nights like these.

As Karma was cleaning, a blonde woman came up to the bar and started flirting with him… one of his regulars who refused to back down no matter how many times he rebuffed her affections. Love just… wasn't something he wanted. He'd tried to date after Irina, but everyone either wanted something he couldn't give, or didn't give him that warm, fuzzy feeling. To be honest, he was pretty sure he was going to be a single daddy for life because most people wanted intimacy and affection, and Karma wasn't sure that he'd ever really be willing to give someone that. Not to mention he wanted to focus on his kid, and he'd much rather make Aoi happy than worry about anyone else. But this was Karma's job, and he wasn't about to lose business over a little flirting. 

This woman was always too touchy, be it running her fingers across his arm or chest, sometimes deliberately pressing her boobs up against him, and it really did bother him, but again, he didn't want to piss her off and lose business; especially her because she provided a lot of it. “Karma baby, I want another shot of whiskey.” He smiled at her politely, even when she trailed her index finger up his bare forearm; it was so hard not to cringe at that. Lustful, hungry eyes… he was used to being stared at like he was nothing more than an object by this point, but it still made him more than a little uncomfortable. It reminded him of his past and it always made him feel disgusting… he was so tainted that even if he ever did want to have sex, no one would want him if they knew what he'd done. 

When he slid the shot in front of her, she grabbed his hand and he harshly jerked away before blinking a few times; he hadn't meant to pull away like that, it had really taken him off guard, though. With his thoughts the way they were that night, he couldn't help but be a bit jumpy. “S-Sorry,” he blushed a little, giving her a shy smile, playing it off as nervousness. “I uh, I wasn't expecting you to do that.”

A sly grin crept up to her lips and she cocked her head. “You sure you don't wanna come home with me, sweetie? I'll show you a good time~” she cooed before taking her shot. 

No. She definitely wouldn't show him a good time and he desperately wished she would just go away and leave him alone. But life was cruel, especially tonight, and she leaned over to try and touch his face. “Yuu, I told you I can't.” She pouted at him as he backed away from her touch and smiled a little, “You're married.” 

“Separated,” she corrected, resting her chin in her hand. “Karma, please… all the fucking dudes in this town suck.”

If only she knew how fucked up he was… she'd want nothing to do with him if she knew everyone he'd ever been with or how many disgusting things he'd done for drugs. Ha, maybe he should tell her just to get her to go away. No, not really; he'd never be seen the same way by anyone if he did that. “I suck, too. Ask literally anyone who knows me,” he smirked, saying it as a joke but genuinely meant it. Honestly, he was the worst; even after all this time, he still hated himself. 

She laughed at that, “Oh Karma, you're funny. All the bartenders around here dote on you like crazy.” Because they felt sorry for him, he wanted to say, but did not. “I've been in this town for years and I have never met someone as attractive as you. What do I have to do to get you to come home with me?” 

Ah, yet again it was his looks that caught her attention; just how shallow and petty were people nowadays? Just because he looked good meant she had the right to harass him into sleeping with her? It wasn't fair and he hated it… Karma was not a fucking object or sex doll anymore, and he would damned if he allowed himself to be treated as such again. And damned he would be because he couldn't be rude to this woman no matter how much he wanted to be. Ugh, maybe he should have gone home early after all; at least then he wouldn't be dealing with this bullshit. “Sorry Yuu~” he winked, giving her a smug look even though he really felt like throwing up. “I'm not that easy.” He used to be, though. Now? Stubborn as a mule, and wouldn't give in no matter what. 

Their eyes locked for a few moments, and she could see he wasn't backing down; with a sigh, she forked over her money for her drinks and then gave him a smug look of her own. “I'll get you one of these days, Mr. Akabane,” she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, lightly staining it with her pink lipstick, as she slipped a twenty dollar bill in his pocket. The minute she hopped out of her bar stool and headed out into the night, his body finally felt like it could relax and he slumped over his bar. That was torture; why did he keep doing this shit to himself!? Why couldn't he just tell her to go away and not have to worry about anything!? He wiped at his cheek aggressively, trying to get rid of the feel of her, and the lipstick. 

While he was in his own head, he didn't notice the male slip into the stool in front of him. “Give me your strongest cocktail and a trio shot of whatever.” Karma nearly jumped out of his skin and the stranger laughed. “Jumpy, huh?”

All Karma could do was laugh a little, keeping his head down as he mixed one of his strongest drinks. “We're closing in about 30 minutes, just so you know.”

“Got it. So what are you making?”

“Surprise~” Karma only glanced up at him, still slightly panicked from his earlier scare, not to mention a bit nauseated from that conversation he'd had with Yuu. Six minutes later and he was done. “I call it Karma's a Bitch.” He grinned as he slid the glass in front of the man before he began mixing his own favorite triple shots that didn’t take too long to make, concoctions he’d created long ago; regular, apple, and then spicing it up with some cinnamon and ginger flavors. “Hope you like a little apple and spice in your whiskey~” A haughty smile graced his lips as the other man took a long drink of the red cocktail, sparkly violet eyes wide in astonishment. Wow, he had really pretty eyes, Karma noted, he could get lost in those things. 

“Holy shit, this is amazing. Just what I need.” Then he downed his three shots in record time and Karma gave him an impressed look, nodding at him in respect. Normally people didn't do em that fast, especially the ones he made; most everything was high proof and strong. Go big or go home, he liked to say. “My man, you are bartender Jesus.”

“How did you know?” Karma teased playfully, as if taken aback that he'd been found out, before rounding up all the shot glasses to clean them. The man shot him a look and Karma smirked. “My birthday is December 25th… therefore I'm pretty much like Jesus.”

“Ah~” he chuckled, raising his eyebrows in amusement. “One of the worst days to be born, always in the shadow of the big shot.”

Karma felt himself relax a little more, this guy was pretty alright. “Fucking right!? Like I get it, you died for all of humanity and shit, but us other babies deserve some attention too!”

This stranger's smile was gorgeous, perfectly aligned, white teeth… and his laugh? Dear God, Karma thought he'd died and gone to Heaven. “I feel you,” he chuckled, taking another drink. “I'm a New Year's baby myself, and I got significantly less presents due to the dates being so close together. Not to mention I was normally alone since my parents liked to party.”

Ha, Karma got two gifts on Christmas when he was growing up, one for the holiday and one for his birthday… honestly, he was grateful to get anything at all considering his parents hated him. Apparently they cared enough to remember his birthday and send something… it was usually nothing too expensive, but he treasured them as a child. It was all he had that really proved that his parents still loved him and remembered his existence. “New Years baby, huh?” Karma hummed. “Bet it's fun now~”

“If you consider your friends taking you to a strip club every year to try and get you laid, but then you all just end up plastered and wake up not having any idea what happened with a splitting headache in a puddle of your own vomit _fun_ , then yes, it's most certainly _fun_.”

“Yikes,” Karma grinned sheepishly, imagining many scenarios of him doing similar things in the past, just without the sex part. “Did you at least get laid?”

The male smirked, taking another drink, “Do I look like the kind of man who kisses and tells?”

“I'm not sure yet,” he admitted with a smile, and that was the truth. This guy was different and Karma couldn't really get a clear read on him. Which was half scary and half intriguing. “But you do seem like the kinda guy who says things like that just because he got so blackout drunk that has no idea whether or not he got laid~”

A huff through his nose, and then a lazy smile, “So you caught me. But I was usually fully clothed and alone when I woke up, if that's anything to go by.” Another drink and then a shiver, those shots were starting to kick in. “Fuck, those hit me hard, very nice work.” Karma waved his hand and gave him a little bow, making him snort, which made him blush because usually he didn't do such embarrassing things like that! But he played it cool, “So, Mr. Bartender Jesus, I really like your tattoos.”

Karma glanced down at his exposed forearms and smiled fondly; it was always nice to be complimented for those because he designed a lot of them. Not to mention the significance behind them was very dear to him. But he couldn't help but feel a bit self conscious because the scars were still kind of visible if you were looking closely. “Thanks, I do too…” He tugged at his sleeves a bit before smiling at his customer. “And, my name is Karma just by the by, but you can totally keep calling me Bartender Jesus if ya wanna inflate my ego some more~”

“Gakushuu,” he smiled, holding out his hand that Karma took almost immediately. Handshakes were not something he enjoyed, touch in general was not something he was particularly fond of from strangers, but he couldn't just leave the dude hanging. That would be rude. “Just moved into town a few days ago, trying to meet some people. I've heard many good things about this place, and damn did it exceed my expectations.” From the atmosphere to the employees to the drinks; it was wonderful. Cozy and comfortable… welcoming of everyone who came in. It felt like a nice, safe environment for a bar. 

That was very nice to hear, knowing that the people around town liked his bar enough to recommend it to other people. Sure, this man could probably be playing him and saying that to get free shit, but Karma couldn't care less because he loved being praised. “That's what I like to hear. It's free, tonight,” he told him. 

“No, no Karma. I don't want you to get in trouble with your manager or anything like that.”

“Why would I get in trouble with myself?” He cocked his head, inadvertently looking adorable. 

It took a moment for his tipsy mind to fully process that statement… if he said that, then…? “You're the manager!? You barely look old enough to drink!”

“Hey! I'm 23, mind you. And I'm not just the manager, I own the joint with my dad.” That's what Korosensei was to him and he'd accepted that a long time ago. As far as he was concerned, his biological parents were dead and gone forever. “Though I do most of the work… he just handles all the finances and shit I don't wanna deal with, which I usually end up dealing with anyway because he's fairly incompetent, but what can ya do?” He held out his hands in an indifferent shrugging pose as he rolled his eyes thinking of how Korosensei was sometimes more trouble than he was worth. But he loved him. 

Gakushuu blanched… wow, owning his own bar at such a young age, not to mention it was one of the more successful ones in the town from what he'd heard. It was amazing. Sure he had help from his dad, but he seemed more than confident that he could take care of it all on his own. “Wow, I'm impressed. Musta taken a lotta work to get to this point.”

“You have no idea,” Karma mumbled to himself, though Gakushuu heard it. But he pretended he didn't hear him or notice that dark, almost vacant look on his face. This guy had been through some shit… and he found himself slightly worried. But then, like nothing even happened, Karma brightened up and took the glasses a few guys had brought over so he could clean them. “So you're new in town?” he swiftly changed the subject as he cleaned the foamy glasses. 

“Mhmmm…” he drawled out, trying to focus. His cheeks were flushed and he was starting to look a little woozy. After another big sip of his drink, he shuddered a little, feeling the alcohol working through him; lowering his inhibitions and warming him. “Had ta get away, y'know? Insane assholes alwayz causin’ fuckin’ issues.”

“Insane assholes?” Karma had to admit he was curious, and this story sounded too interesting to pass up. “Do tell~”

Gakushuu folded his arms on the bar and laid his head down on top of them, glancing over at the bartender as he cleaned up the glasses. “Forreal? I don't wanna bug ya with shit.”

“Don't worry about it, it's what I'm here for~”

Eyeing him a moment, Gakushuu decided the man really didn’t mind his drunken ramblings and went on, “Okay then… so like, my dad is fuckin’ insane. Always goin on an’ on about me bein’ su’cessful heir to the comp’ny an’ shit. But like, I don’ wanna do what’ee wants, y'know?” The alcohol was really getting to him, now; effecting his speech and making him slur slightly. “I majored in business ‘nd finance fer me, not ‘im. I wanna do my’own thing an’ not live in ‘is shadow fer like ever. Jus’ now realized I ‘ad ta move to accomplish that.” Karma just nodded, intently listening to his tale. “But like, tha’s not the worst part? ‘Parently in college, some of my friends and like five of the girls I dated were ‘is minions. To _keep an eye on me_ ‘ee said. An’ then’ee had the audacity to try an’ keep doing it, even after I graduated. So like, six whole years I was datin’ and fuckin’ chicks who didn' even like me. Even my fiancée was an arranged thing. I was so pissed when I found out an’ lost it. Can't trust people there anymore, so I moved. Lookin’ for real friends. You'd tell me if ya were a spy? Right?”

Well that all sounded very shitty… and borderline creepy. What kind of father sent in spies to date their son!? And then Karma deflated a bit because this guy was straight… and he was so nice and good looking, too! But that was fine, it wasn't like he'd see him often anyway. They didn't even know each other, so it really shouldn't have mattered. Karma knew he had no chance at love and never wanted to put himself in such a vulnerable situation like that ever again. Especially with someone who seemed to be very sexually active. “Well fuck, I'd say you made the right decision.” There was about ¼ of his drink left, and Karma slowly took it away because he was looking worse for wear and very drunk. The wide-eyed pouty look and grabby hands he got in return was adorable, but it was just about closing time and he needed to get this guy a taxi. “And just so you know, I wouldn't tell you if I was a spy, but I'm definitely not a spy so you don't need to worry.”

“Buuuut Karmaaa~” he whined, making Karma tightly press his lips together so he wouldn't laugh at this pathetically adorable display of a man who could most definitely not handle his liquor. “I gots ta know fer sure!”

Playing along for the time being, he placed a hand on his hip and let out an exasperated, but playful sigh. “Well what do you want me to do?”

“Uhhh…” he shrugged. “I ‘unno.” How much more adorable could this man get? “Tell me somethin’ only a spy would know!”

That was it, Karma couldn't hold it in any longer; he doubled over and started laughing loudly, attracting a bit of attention because Karma usually wasn't one to just bust up like that. “Oh my fuck, Gakushuu you are hilarious. I can assure you that I'm not a spy and know absolutely jackshit about you, hon.”

Violet eyes went wide, a blush creeping up to his already flushed face. Somehow, even in his drunk state, the embarrassment of being laughed at weaved its way in. “S-Sorry… I jus’… I dunno who ta trust.”

“Nah, I get it; I'd be wary too if my dad did that.” Karma smiled charmingly, straightening up a bit before pulling out his cell phone from his back pocket. “It's about closing time, so how about I call a cab so you can get home?”

His head shot up and he quickly shook his head, “No! No, m’okay.”

“I'm not letting you drive, Gakushuu. You could kill someone.”

“I'm walkin’!” He got up and started wobbling, and he was about to fall, but Karma hopped over the bar and caught him. Being so close to someone he found so attractive made him tense up; suddenly he felt very conscious of everywhere he was touching and their close proximity. Gakushuu smelled like roses, and mint… it was a very soothing scent. “Ah shit. ‘kay, so I can't walk… but I ain't gettin’ in no cab.” 

Karma simply ushered him back to his bar stool and then got him some water. Man, he hadn’t pegged this guy as such a lightweight given his stature... then again, he did have some of the strongest things on the menu. “Well how do you expect to get home, then?”

“Home?” He furrowed his eyebrows, before shaking his head. “I don' gotta home. I live in my car. Can I sleep in yer lot tonight?”

Fuck… he couldn't let this dude live out of his car, but he couldn't exactly take home a drunk stranger, either. But how would he get back to his car if he took him to a hotel? Not to mention his bar wasn't exactly in the best part of town. It really shouldn't have been any of his concern, but he liked this guy; he was nice and his presence was relaxing. Karma's conscience wouldn't allow him to leave him on his own. With a small sigh, he hopped back over the bar and grabbed a slip of paper, scratching down his number. “You can sleep in the lot, but lock your doors and if anything happens you call me, okay?” Gakushuu took a break from the water and snatched the slip of paper, immediately programming it into his phone before resting his head in his arms on the bar. It was closing time, but Karma didn't have the heart to tell him to leave… 

“Thanks’alot, Bar’ender Jesus.” His eyes fluttered closed and Karma just cleaned around him, ignoring the stares from his staff and his friends. 

Finally one of them spoke up about it, because usually Karma was quick to throw anyone out if they were in his way. “Yo Karma,” Terasaka hollered at him, “Ya need me to throw that drunk out?”

“No, he's fine. I'll walk him out once I've finished up here. You can all go home if you've done what you needed to do.” They were waiting around for him, it was obvious, because none of them really liked leaving him alone. Even those who didn't know about him and his past, they worried about him when he acted the way he had been that night. “Don't think I don't know what you're all doing.” All eyes turned away from him, preoccupying themselves with other things. “Go home, I can finish up here on my own. Okay?”

Reluctantly, they all gathered their coats and things before clocking out and heading home. All except for Nagisa, Itona, and Ryouma, who didn't trust any of what was going on for a second. “Who is this?” Nagisa asked cautiously, eyeing the male with a scrutinizing look on his face. 

“Gakushuu,” he answered curtly, not sparing them so much as a glance as he thumbed through the money in the second register. Only one more to go, and then all the checks, and then get the place ready for tomorrow. On second thought, he could get ready that evening; sleepiness was slowly overtaking his body and he just wanted to leave already. “I really will be fine, guys. Shoo~” He waved them away before slipping all the fives back in the register, typing in how many there were before swapping them for tens. “Ten, twenty, thirty, I'm not paying you all to stand around and watch me count money, forty, fifty, sixty…” Aggravated, he slammed the money down on the bar and scowled. “Are you all clocked out?” They nodded. “Then you have no reason to be here. Go home, it's 2:30. You all have other things to worry about, and I know for a fact that you have to take your sister to school in the morning, Terasaka, and you're grouchzilla when you don't get sleep.”

“Why are you lettin’ him stay in the bar? What if he jumps ya or somethin’?”

Seriously? That was so funny that he forgot to laugh. “You all know I am more than capable of taking care of myself,” he gave them an unamused look before continuing his count. “He's passed out drunk. Stop babying me and go home.” So they did, though reluctantly, and only because they didn't want him to really get upset with them. Nagisa hugged him before he left, telling Karma he loved him and to call or text him no matter what time it was if he needed to talk. It was things like that that really made Karma feel loved… his friends were the best, and as annoying as it got sometimes, he was grateful they cared. 

Once everything was taken care of, it was 2:50 and he just wanted to die… sleep wasn't something he'd been getting much of as of late. What with Aoi being up at ungodly times for absolutely no reason other than that he wanted to spend as much time with Karma as he could, and the nightmares seeping back into his head during the night, sleep was close to nonexistent. With a tired sigh, he rubbed his eyes and gathered his things before heading to Gakushuu. “Hey, dude get up. I wanna go home.” The male just whined at him before swatting him away. “Gakushuu, c’mon. I'm tired.”

“S’warm here. Don' wanna go to car.”

Too tired to think rationally, he pulled him up and helped him walk in his half conscious state. “Then you can come home with me. Just promise not to kill me.”

He laughed a little, muttering something unintelligible before leaning on Karma so that he was doing most of the work. Not liking the feeling of constantly about to tip over, he threw Gakushuu up over his shoulder and continued onwards, locking up and heading to his car. Only his own and a small purple car vacated the lot and he glanced over at his unconscious potato sack. “How the fuck did you live in that thing?” he muttered under his breath. Of course he didn't get an answer, but he still couldn't help but wonder how that was comfortable at all… why not stay in a hotel!? Too tired to think about it any longer, he quickly got the man all settled in before getting in on his own side. 

The moment he started driving, panic began to set in… what if this was all an act to get into his home!? What if he was a serial killer or something? What if he hurt him or his son!? He'd have to sleep in his son's room, just in case. Did having a kid soften him? Usually he wasn't so nice to strangers… but he really felt bad for this guy. Going through all that bullshit had to suck. And he seemed nice enough at the bar, very charming and kind. Besides, if he sensed any malicious intent, he'd wake up right away and stab the guy in his face. His beautiful, chiseled face. No, he couldn't think like that… he didn't even know him, and going off looks alone was shallow. Then again, he'd met a lot of attractive people before that night and never felt like this. Deeming it as lack of sleep, he shook it off and turned his brain on autopilot for the rest of the drive home. 

Upon making it home, he sat there for a few moments, gathering his wits before shutting off his car and lugging his unconscious steed out. Carrying Gakushuu wasn't nearly as hard as he thought it would be, but he was still pretty heavy, and the fact that he was like a huge, limp potato sack didn't help. As he was unlocking his door, Gakushuu stirred a bit, but simply muttered something about his stomach hurting before going back to sleep. Inside, he found Izuku the babysitter asleep on the couch, holding Aoi as they slept. Adorable. Quietly, he shut the door and decided Gakushuu would have to sleep in his bed rather than the couch because he was not about to wake Izuku up… last time he did that, it scared him so badly that he'd nearly punched Karma in the face. Lesson learned. 

Since Karma knew he himself wouldn't want to be stripped down by a stranger when he was unconscious, he simply removed Gakushuu's jacket and shoes before tucking him into his bed. Hopefully he wouldn't wake up and freak the fuck out. What if that happened? Weighing his options, he decided a note would be best, so he got into his nightstand and wrote on his notepad:

_Gakushuu, please don't freak out. You're okay. You passed out at my bar last night and I didn't want to leave you in your car, so I took you home. If you wake up before me, feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen and I'll get you back to your car as soon as possible. Sorry. I hope you're not upset. But you wouldn't wake up and I couldn't just leave you there -Karma (aka Bartender Jesus)  
P.s. The bathroom is down the hall, first door on your right. There's some painkillers in the cabinet. I think you'll need it lol_

With that, he ripped the page from the pad and folded it, writing 'GAKUSHUU' before putting the note in plain sight by his lamp so it wouldn't be missed. As a precaution, he then moved his trash bin to the side of the bed just in case Gakushuu decided to throw up before shutting off the light and leaving him to sleep. After closing his door, he locked up the house and then gently picked Aoi up out of Izuku's arms, shutting off the lights and taking them both to bed. As if unconsciously sensing his dad, he cuddled into him with a contented hum, loosely clutching his shirt. The twin sized bed definitely wouldn't be all that comfy, but he had no other option. Wait… why didn't he just put Gakushuu in Aoi's bed? That would have made more sense considering he was one person and Karma was bigger than him. Shit. Did he really want to disrupt him or Aoi? Not particularly, but he really wanted his bed. 

His sleepy brain told him that if they all slept in the same bed, that even if Gakushuu tried to hurt him, he'd wake right up and stab him before he could even try to touch Aoi. After all, he was a fairly light sleeper; considering everything that had ever happened to him, that much should have been expected. His guard was always up and he was always ready to leap into action if he sensed something was wrong. So he lugged them both to his room, laying Aoi down before stripping to his boxers and putting on pajama pants and a tee shirt. Once he was good and made sure his knife was safely in place on his thigh, he got in between them and curled up, putting Aoi against his body and wrapping around him like a protective cocoon before drifting off to sleep relatively quickly. 

Aoi was his life, and if someone ever tried to hurt him, Karma would kill them without hesitation. But Gakushuu probably wouldn't do that. There was something about him that just… made Karma relax and feel at ease. Whether that was a good or bad thing, he'd have to wait and find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading, kudos, and comments.


	3. Why is There a Mini-Karma on the Toilet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gakushuu spends the morning with Aoi, Karma’s adorable three year old son. All is well... until Karma wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for today.

Gakushuu woke up to the soft sound of a door closing and he startled awake. Usually he'd be waking up to the sun assaulting him, but it seemed something was there to block it out. Ugh, why did everything hurt? What happened? Most importantly, where the hell was he?? The first thing he noticed was that he was in a very comfortable, warm bed for the first time in weeks… and then he saw a note addressed to him. Reading it, he blushed a bit… whoops, he'd totally just intruded in this dude’s life. Last night was a bit hazy, but he pretty much remembered everything, which was when everything caught up with him and he felt extremely sick. 

Following the notes directions, he headed out and rushed to the toilet, barely making it before he blew chunks. Ugh, he felt awful. He knew he shouldn’t have eaten at that cheap restaurant… that mixed with the alcohol just made him feel like shit. When he finished, he took a leak before flushing and washing his hands. A painkiller was most definitely needed, so he rummaged through the medicine cabinet and took two, using sink water to wash them down with because he was too tired to make it to the kitchen. His mouth tasted horrible, so he grabbed Karma's mouthwash and swished it around… hopefully the guy didn't mind, but he really needed the taste of vomit to go away. Yawning, he shut the light off and headed back to bed, not even sparing a second glance at the other two forms in it before passing out again. 

The bed was far too warm and relaxing for him to care. 

xx

At about 10:20 in the morning, Aoi opened his eyes and let out a yawn, rubbing his bleary blue eyes before looking around. No wonder he'd slept so well; he was in his papa’s bed and being held. That was always a good way to wake up. Rather than waking his dad up right away and disrupting his very much needed sleep, the three year old carefully climbed out of his arms and slid off his bed, toes barely able to reach the bottom when he was hanging all the way off of it. Why was he still so small? His papa was all tall and stuff and he was too little; it was unpleasant. His papa shifted a bit, trying to pull him back up, but Aoi persisted, “I'll be right back, Papa.”

“Mm,” he mumbled something unintelligible and let him go, still mostly asleep. 

Just barely brushing his lips over his papa's dangling fingers, he went to go change into some undies because he hated using pull-ups, but stopped short when he saw another person in the bed. Now his papa had always told him not to talk to strangers, but he couldn't be that strange if his papa allowed him in his bed. So, being the curious little toddler he was, he slowly crept over and checked him out. Messy orange hair, parted lips, drooling, long eyelashes, bags under his eyes, peaceful. Hmm, this man seemed sleepy, but Aoi wanted to know who he was and why he was in Papa's bed. Aoi’s curiosity beat out his consideration for the man and he toddled over, poking at the man’s cheek. 

Nothing happened. Pouting, he tried again. Nothing. He tried his nose, but the man simply crinkled it and did nothing else. Huffing, he decided he would jump on the man who refused to wake up; that usually woke his papa up. Just as he was about to climb up, he realized he really had to pee and scurried to the bathroom, deciding to bug the man later. Rather than using his step stool to stand up, he just pulled down his pjs and pull-up and climbed up to sit down. Standing took way too much effort. Why did boys stand up to pee when sitting was so much easier? After he was done, he just kind of sat there with his elbows on his knees and chin in his hands. Man, all he wanted to do was go back to sleep; that was the first time in a while that he'd slept so well. With Karma gone all the time, usually he either slept alone in one of their beds, or on the couch with Zuzu if he fell asleep too. Usually his papa just put him in bed, but this time he'd snuggled with him and held him all through the night. 

Why couldn't that be every night? All he wanted to do was be with his papa, but he was always so sleepy or not there. Despite his young age, he understood that his papa was doing his best to be there and be attentive and playful with him… adults just, couldn't be there all the time, especially since he didn't have a mommy. Of course he'd always wondered who and where she was, but he tended not to ask because it made his papa act funny. Another sigh and he was about to get up when all of a sudden he looked over and came face to face with the orange haired stranger. Said man nearly shrieked and Aoi just looked at him curiously, “Did I weave the door open again?”

_Why is there a mini-Karma on the toilet…?_ There was no ring on his finger, and he didn't really seem like the type to have a child what with owning a bar and all… not to mention he seemed to be a little on the wild side. They just kind of stared at each other before Gakushuu slowly backed away, out of his sight. “Hey wait!” Aoi called after him, quickly hopping off, flushing and running after him whilst pulling up his pants. Gakushuu did stop, because he didn't want the kid to hurt himself, which ended up happening anyway because the child ran into his leg and nearly fell back. But he caught him, thankfully, and Aoi scrambled to get his pants up. “Can you help me wash my hands?” Even with the stepstool it was hard for him to reach; the counter always dug into his ribs and it hurt. And he decided he'd trust this guy because his papa seemed to like him enough to let him sleep in his bed. 

“Uh…” Well he couldn't very well say no to a toddler, could he? He glanced over at Karma's door before nodding. “What do you need help with?”

“You gots ta pick me up and hold me there!” So the man followed him back to the bathroom and did as he was told, little Aoi trying to remember what his dad usually told him to do. “Turn on the water…” he muttered to himself, reaching for the hot handle and letting it sit there… Gakushuu noticed and used one hand to check; the poor boy would have scorched himself if he'd put his hand under that! So he turned on the cold to lessen the heat and then Aoi looked up at him. “Did I turn the wrong one?”

He nodded, “Make sure you turn the one on the right, first.”

“Did I not do that?” He blinked down at the sink, trying to remember which was right and which was left. “Sowwy… I didn't mean to.”

“You don't have to apologize, silly,” Gakushuu smiled at him warmly, making Aoi smile and continue his routine. 

Soap his hands up, rub them together, and say the alphabet with… Papa. But his papa wasn't there so he'd have to have this stranger to do it with him. “We gots ta say the ABC’s… A… B… C… D…” he paused and expectantly looked up at the man holding him, who took the hint and started saying them with him. Once they were finished, Aoi rinsed his hands off, shut off the water, and grabbed the hand towel to dry off. “Thanks… guy!”

“Gakushuu,” he told him, setting him down on his feet and putting the towel back for him. 

“I'm Aoi!” He grinned up at him, “Can you make me cereal? Papa is sleepy an’ I don't wanna wake Papa.”

So it was definitely his son, though there really should have been no question about that because they looked so similar. “Um, yeah,” he nodded, awkwardly following the little kid to the kitchen and looking around. “Tell me where to go.”

“The high one!” He pointed to the highest cabinet and Gakushuu opened it to find all sorts of cereals and pop tarts. “Uh, I want… Fruit Loops!” So Gakushuu got that box out for him, looking around for the bowl cabinet that Aoi so kindly was already waiting by. “This one! What day is it?”

The man blinked a few times, “Friday.”

“Blue bowl!” So Gakushuu grabbed the neon blue bowl with a smirk and then allowed Aoi to help pour his cereal before getting into the fridge. “The blue milk!” Probably the blue packaged one, which was lactose free. The kid must have a lactose allergy, or maybe Karma did and he was just being cautious. So he grabbed it and poured it in, Aoi telling him when to stop, and then opened one of the drawers, up on his tiptoes so he could see inside. Once he had his blue spoon, he scurried over to the table and sat in his booster seat where his cereal was already waiting for him. “Thanks uh… Shuu?” He couldn't quite recall his name. But that sounded right!

Ha, he hadn't been called that in a long time. It was nice to hear it, even if it was just because his name was either too hard for him to say or because he forgot it. “So Aoi,” he took the seat next to him and smiled, “How old are you?”

He scrunched up his face and counted on his fingers, trying to think about what his papa said last time someone asked how old he was. “Uh…” After a few moments, he held up three fingers with a cheesy grin, “Dis many!”

“Three, huh?” He smirked, looking around the front room… it was pretty messy from what must have been Aoi's shenanigans the night before. But the child seemed rather well behaved and adorable. What also caught his eye was that there seemed to be no ‘mom’ in any of the pictures around the room and along the walls… so he decided not to bring anything like that up. “Did you have fun last night?”

Aoi finished chewing what was in his mouth before speaking, which was actually pretty surprising… what a well-mannered three year old. “Mhm! Me and Zuzu made a fort! And we played with my stuff aminals, and we read lotsa books! We did counting… kinda… I'm not that good wif it! But Papa said I'll be better if I work hard!” Such an animated little guy. The way he spoke was too adorable, and he was at that stage where a lot of his ‘r and l’ sounds sounded like ‘w’ sounds. Gakushuu hadn't been around children all that much, but this actually wasn't bad… the little boy was very cute, and all he wanted to do was hug him! But that would probably be overstepping his boundary as a stranger who was only there because he passed out drunk at his dad's bar. 

“Oh really?” He hummed, voice brimming with enthusiasm to match the little boy’s. “That sounds like lots of fun. What books do you like to read?”

“Lots an' lots! Like Dr. Seuss! And uh… the colors one! And Jacob's Tree! I'll show you when I'm done wif my cereal!” At that moment, the man's stomach decided to growl and Aoi's eyes widened; that was a sound he was very familiar with since his papa was hungry a lot, but he never really ate all that much. “You eat too!” 

And eat he did because he was starving… he hadn't eaten the day before to save up some money, so yeah, food was not something he was about to turn down. God, what had become of him? Taking handouts from a three year old. How pathetic. He just ate the same thing as Aoi, sitting down with him and digging in. “So…” he started, not really wanting to sit in awkward silence, but unsure of how to really deal with a child. “What's your favorite color?”

“Red… and blue… and gold… I like lotsa colors!” Then he thought a moment more, “I fink the color I like the mostest… is the color of Papa's eyes. It… makes me feel safe an’ stuff,” he mumbled that part more to himself, suddenly missing his father. But he was sleepy, and he didn't want to bug him… his friends were always saying he needed to sleep more, and that they'd take Aoi if he needed to clean or catch up on sleep. In the three year old's mind, he thought that meant take him away forever, which was scary, so he decided not to disturb his papa since he had a new friend here to play with. Shuu made things less lonely… and he was nice. Had kind eyes.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Gakushuu attempted to lighten it a bit. “You really love your papa, huh?” Aoi nodded, stuffing more fruit loops in his mouth. “What's your favorite thing to do with him?”

A moment passed while Aoi was chewing, that ever so cute thinking look on his face. “I uh…” He swallowed, thinking a bit more. “I just wike… when we snuggle. And sometimes we go to the park and Papa pushes me on the swings. Swings are fun… do you wike swingin’, Shuu?”

“Oh yeah? That sounds nice.” Nothing like what he had with his own father… he'd barely ever touched his father in his life, even as a child. They just… never really knew how to show affection towards each other, and his father liked to control him. All the way up into adulthood, the man tried to control and dictate every single aspect of his life; always had to be in the know. Hell, he just liked to control everything in general. But thinking about that would only bum him out, so he'd wait for tonight when he could get drunk again. Oh how far he'd fallen. “Swinging is really fun,” he mused, thinking of the times his mother would swing with him… back when she was still alive. “Used to do it all the time when I was your age.”

This got Aoi thinking a little bit… “Do you have a mommy?” He asked curiously, not really bothered by the subject since his dad wasn't around. Seeing all the other mommies and daddies be happy together made him a little jealous, but with how much love he got from his papa, plus all of his friends, not having a mommy was pretty okay. 

Ah, the dreaded question he'd hoped wouldn't come up… but he seemed okay, so Gakushuu just nodded. “Yeah, back then I did.” Aoi eyed him curiously. “She uh, she passed away…” Aoi looked very confused and he tried to word it a little differently. “Hmm, she went up to Heaven… when I was about 9, I think it was.” God… hard to believe it was coming up on 15 years already. 

Aoi's face softened, he understood that much because that's what happened to Nagisa's daddy. “Oh no… I'm sowwy, are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” he smiled, “It happened a long time ago.”

They were quiet for a few moments, just eating their cereal and avoiding the eyes of the other. Gakushuu finished first and he just waited for Aoi so he could clean both bowls at the same time. But Aoi had other plans; when he finished, he rested his chin in his hand, cocking his head at Gakushuu. “What's it like, having a mommy? Do you ‘member?”

Reliving his past wasn't exactly pleasant, but thinking about his mom would be nice… he hadn't really been too keen on talking about her much due to his dad's insanity. “Well… it was uh, pretty fun I guess. Since my father was always working, she was usually who I spent my time with. And uh… we always had a lot of fun and she would read to me and teach me all kinds of stuff just like your papa does with you. We did all sorts of fun stuff: went to the park and fed the ducks and played pretend and told stories… and uh…” He swallowed the lump in his throat, not sure why he was suddenly getting emotional over something he rarely thought about anymore. “She was a very good mommy, and trust me when I tell you that even if it's only you and your dad, you're not missing out on anything. Sometimes having one parent who loves you so, so, so much is better than having two parents where one loves you and is always there, and the other just kind of… pretends you don't exist.”

It was difficult for his three year old mind to really take all this information in and process it, but he managed pretty well. “So… it's better to just have Papa ‘cause he loves me lots and lots and lots and bees wif me? And my mommy don't wanna do that?”

“Eh, something to that extent… your papa knows the full story though, so I don't really know. Just… know that your papa loves you and that in the end, he's the one looking after you and shit—er…” Yeah, there he went and did it… he cursed in front of a stranger's child. Shit. And he'd really been focusing so he wouldn't do that… ever since he'd left his house, he'd become quite the potty mouth since his father had always been so against it. Just a little way he could kind of spite the piece of shit man. 

Aoi giggled a little, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere. “You can say ‘shit’ Shuu. Papa says it all the time.” In front of his toddler? Really? That didn't exactly seem appropriate, but who was he to judge? In some households, swearing was probably a very normal thing. In his own? Unacceptable and got Gakushuu hit anytime he let one slip—even as an adult. “My bunny's name is Fuck! Wanna see him?” Not waiting for a response, he climbed down from his chair and scurried over to his fort, finding his favorite blue lop bunny and bringing it back to show him. “See!”

Oh goodness… this child was too stinkin’ adorable. “Very cute,” Gakushuu smiled, patting the bunny's head. “That's a very uh… nice name…?”

“Nagi says it's a bad name, but Papa don't care! Papa says… somefin… I don't member. But Papa says it's okay!”

“Well if your papa says it's okay, then it must be, right?” Aoi nodded happily, glad someone else understood that! “So uh, Aoi,” he addressed him by his name this time, trying to be a little more personal with him; even though Aoi seemed far from shy, he wanted to make sure the child was at least somewhat comfortable with him, what with just meeting him and all. “What do you usually do in the morning?” Maybe they could get started on his morning routine or something… the least he could do was look after this guy’s kid while he slept. After all, he was probably up for a while and needed his sleep. 

The boy thought a moment before smiling, “I wake up wif the sun an’ hop on papa like a bunny til he wakes up an’ we play til he gots ta work!” That sounded like a miserable way to wake up… especially if it was that early and he'd been working all night. Did the man ever get any sleep or time to himself? He supposed it was just a consequence of having a child, but it sounded horrible. Yeah, the poor man definitely needed his sleep if he dealt with that on a daily basis. Nothing against Aoi, he was only three, but hearing this made Gakushuu realize just how high maintenance children could be, that much was now very clear to him. “An’ Papa is super duper nice, Shuu! ‘Cept…” The frown on his face was a little more than disconcerting. “He don't let me seep wif him lots now. I heared Nagi say somefin… but I don't member now.”

Hmm… well that was confusing? And gave him little to no information whatsoever other than he won't let his toddler sleep in the same bed as him anymore. Maybe he was having women over and couldn't have Aoi in bed… no, surely that wasn't it. It was obvious how uncomfortable he was the night before when that woman was hitting on him. There was only one way he could really think of to find out from Aoi. “Does your papa play with one person a lot?” Surely that was a vague, yet clever enough way to get at least something from the boy. 

“Um… Gampy, an’ Nagi… an’ Zuzu, an’ Tona… an’ Roma!” Yeah… Gakushuu couldn't really make anything of that. Clearly the first one was his grandfather, and then Nagi was mentioned before but he didn't know who that was, and Zuzu was his babysitter. “An’ me! Me an’ Papa are bestest friends!”

Well… he couldn't just come out and ask, so he decided to just wait for Karma to wake up and ask him about himself. After all, he'd really taken to Karma the night before: he was funny, easy to talk to, and something about him made the male relax. Maybe he could be one of the first real friends he'd make here… that would be nice. “Huh,” he muttered under his breath. “You really do love your papa…” It almost seemed foreign to him… seeing a child love his father so dearly. Growing up, he hated his own father, so it was strange to see the child so devoted and starry eyed over Karma. Not that Karma wasn't a good guy, but… Gakushuu never really saw other kids speak this way about their dads. All his friends hated their parents or their dads were gone… then again, he grew up in a different time, and he and his friends definitely grew up in a different social class than these two. Money didn't always mean happiness, and he was starting to see that now. 

Aoi grinned widely, “A’course I love Papa, he's amazin’! The bestest papa in the whole wide world!!” Eyes and arms wide as they could be, as if to emphasize his point. His excitement was infectious and Gakushuu found himself respecting Karma a great amount for having such a daddy's boy. Clearly he was a good father and that was really nice to see. “So Shuu, why’re ya at my house?”

The man cleared his throat, “I uh… your dad kind of took pity on me and didn't want me living out of my car, so he decided to let me stay here, I guess.”

“He must like you…” For a three year old, Aoi was very perceptive and knew his papa better than most; he knew how to read him, at least, as he was still in the dark about his shitty past and probably always would be. “Papa is… scared…” He didn't know a better word to use, so he went with what he felt was appropriate. “…of lotsa people.”

Knowing the child was three, Gakushuu took those words with a grain of salt because Karma didn't seem scared of anything or anyone; he couldn't be a bartender if he was. Aside from how uncomfortable he was when that woman was flirting with him, he seemed like a pretty rough dude. Nice, but a bit rugged. Finding out about Karma through his three year old felt weird and dishonest, though, so he decided to change the subject. “How about you go get dressed while I clean up?” Aoi nodded happily, scrambling out of his chair and toddling back to his room. “So cute,” Gakushuu muttered under his breath before taking their bowls and cleaning them in the sink. 

By the time he was drying them, Aoi was back out and Gakushuu's eyes went wide. “Help~” he pleaded softly. Somehow the three year old had managed to get his head and arm stuck in the head hole of his shirt, and he had no pants or underwear on. Well… this was awkward. So Gakushuu hurried up and got it off of him, resituating it so that it was on properly before getting dragged behind the toddler. Looks like he was helping whether he wanted to or not. “Sorry… I didn't mean to be bad,” he frowned at the man as he put on some of his underwear

Why did he keep apologizing? “Honey, it's okay. You don't have to apologize so much. You didn't do anything bad.”

“Papa does it… so me too.” What? Why? But before he could ask, Aoi looked down at his undies, “Are these on right?” Looking down, no, they were backwards, so Gakushuu helped him with that, and then with his overalls when Aoi put them in his hand. The kid was absolutely stinkin’ adorable in his black and white horizontal striped shirt and red overalls. “Sockys next!” The child got into his top drawer and felt around for some, and then looked at Gakushuu when he came up empty; still too short to reach. The man smiled and lifted him up, letting him choose what he wanted: black, fuzzy long socks with red designs on them. “Do I match good!?” He asked once he was all ready to go, holding his arms out to his aides and grinning. 

“You do,” he smiled, ruffling up his hair. “So now what?”

Hmm… Aoi thought a moment. “Brush my teeth?” Gakushuu nodded and led him to the bathroom. “You hafta help, Shuu,” Aoi said as he pushed his step stool up to the sink and got on, but was still too short to reach whatever he was after. These apartments were definitely not built for three year olds, Gakushuu noted, because Aoi couldn't reach much of anything. Gakushuu grabbed the small toothbrush from the holder and then got into the cabinet Aoi was pointing to, finding little kid toothpaste. When he tried to give them to Aoi, he shook his head as he climbed up onto the counter and sat down. “Papa does it. Small dot of toothpaste.” So Gakushuu did so and handed the toothbrush to him. “You do it.”

Shouldn't he be old enough to brush his own teeth? Then again, what did he know about toddlers? So he washed his hands before doing as he was told, being as gentle as possible. Aoi was very cooperative and didn't really seem to mind it. “Can you spit for me?” Aoi did so and he continued brushing, unsure of when he should be done; he'd never taken care of someone else before, so this was definitely weird. They repeated that three times before Gakushuu decided that was enough. “Do you floss?” Aoi clapped a hand over his mouth; not so cooperative with that, it seemed. And he wasn't his father, so he wasn't about to force him. “It'll be our little secret,” he winked and Aoi giggled a little as he climbed back down and returned his step stool to its rightful place. 

“Wanna read!” He dragged Gakushuu to the front room and made him sit in the rocking chair before grabbing all of his favorite books and climbing up onto his lap. This child sure was… outgoing around him for just meeting him. Some kids were more shy than others, he supposed. “This one!” A book called ‘Jacob's Tree’ was placed into his hands as Aoi curled up to him. Gakushuu was more than a little uncomfortable with the child being so touchy and cozy with him, but he simply dealt with it and hoped Karma wouldn't think he was some sort of creep, should he wake up. 

When the first book was finished, it wasn't hard to understand why Aoi liked it so much: Aoi was quite small as well, so he felt like he could relate to the baby bear. It was more than clear he was upset about his height by his mutterings and grumbling. “I'm sure you'll be as tall as your daddy someday, don't worry about it,” Gakushuu had reassured him, but Aoi didn't seem so sure. After Aoi was a little less cranky about his height, they read about twenty different books, and sometimes Aoi would read along and tell Gakushuu all the words he knew… which seemed like a lot for a child his age. Again, he wasn't a parent, so what did he know? Not much when it came to young children. But for some strange reason, he felt like he wanted to know more about this one and his father… they intrigued him. Aoi smiled up at him, pointing to something in one of the books and telling him about a silly thing his papa did once… so animated and cute. 

Once Aoi was bored of reading, he decided he wanted to color, so he made Gakushuu come down on the floor with him and color as well. They were halfway into their second picture when Gakushuu had to pee. As soon as he was finished drying his hands and he opened the door, Aoi was there to greet him; he definitely wasn't expecting the small child to be there, nor jump and attach himself to his waist in an attempt to climb him, so he yelped in surprise. “You scared the shit outta me, Aoi,” he laughed, setting the kid down and walking back down the hall with him. Aoi's hand was so small in his own… so precious. Children definitely weren't his thing, but he could definitely get used to being around this one. Maybe he could babysit him while he looked for a job! That would be wonderful.

The next two seconds went by in a blur; something whizzed by his head and cut his ear, and he was tackled to the ground. While on top of the unknown man, Karma held Aoi back. “Who the fuck are you and—”

“Papa get off Shuu!” Aoi screamed, pushing at him and hitting him; Shuu was nice and he didn't deserve this. It took a few seconds, but Karma finally realized what was happening and remembered he'd brought someone into his home the night before. “Papa he didn't hurt me! Please stop!” 

Karma quickly got off, heart racing and hands shaking… he'd just scared the shit out of his kid. Again. This wasn't the first time this had happened; he'd freaked out and attempted to kill his friends more times than he could count because… because he was still so paranoid and jumpy. God dammit. He was a terrible person. He shouldn't still be doing this. He hated it! He hated everyone who fucking made him like this! “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I forgot. I didn't know. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” He was rocking back and forth, pulling at his hair while Aoi just watched in horror. When was the last time he'd seen his papa break down like that…? It hurt. It scared him. What was he supposed to do again? Crap, he couldn't remember!

Gakushuu was still kind of disoriented, but when he realized Karma was on the verge of a breakdown, he tried to help. Of course he was irritated that he was just cut and tackled, but what father wouldn't do that to protect his child he thought was in danger? His own… but Karma wasn't like his dad, and he knew that. “Hey,” he kept his voice low and smooth, crawling towards the man and slowly reaching out to him. “Karma, are you—”

Aoi pulled him back by his shirt, “You can't touch Papa when he's like this. We have to go away and call Gampy.” It felt wrong leaving the man like that to suffer, but he was already being dragged away by a more than terrified three year old. Right now, Aoi was far more important because he was the child… Aoi grabbed the home phone and tried to remember which one his grandpa was. Taking a guess, he hit the speed dial on 1 and hoped for the best. No answer. So he tried number 2. No answer. Number 3…? Aoi was freaking out. “C'mon!” He yelled at the phone. 

“Aoi…?” 

“Tona!” He cried. “Papa is hurt! You hafta help! He's pulling his hair out!”

“Fuck. Stay in your room sweetheart. I'll be right over!” The line went dead. 

Aoi put the phone up and took Gakushuu to his room, bypassing his father with tears in his eyes. Seeing him curled up and muttering to himself like that hurt so much. Why did his papa have to do that? Why did his papa have to be in so much pain? When Aoi closed his door, he tried to climb up Gakushuu so he would hold him. He did so, but felt his heart wrench at the thought of just leaving Karma like that. “Aoi, stay in here sweetie. I know how to handle things like this. Okay?” Back home, he did have a few real friends, and one of them suffered from really bad anxiety, so he learned how to help. 

“No,” he cried softly, wrapping his limbs around him and tightening his grip on his shirt. “I'm scared. Shuu please.” It wasn't often this happened, but Aoi was always left alone when it did. Which he hated. Of course he loved his papa and knew he needed help, but he hated that he was forced to stay all alone while his papa had an attack. It terrified him to just wait for it all to be over. Being alone was horrible. “Please.”

Sighing, Gakushuu looked at the door where he knew Karma was still curled up outside of and possibly harming himself. God dammit; he didn't want Aoi to be afraid but Karma could probably really hurt himself if he didn't do something soon. “Here,” he shifted Aoi around so that he was on his back. “Hang on tight and keep your eyes closed. Your daddy needs help and I can't just let him continue like this.” So Aoi did… it was better than being alone. Gakushuu rushed out and got on his knees in front of Karma. “Karma. Karma, look at me.” Seemed he was so far in that he couldn't even hear. And he was clawing at his arms; fantastic. Force seemed like his only option. Gentle, of course. “Karma,” he cupped the man's tear stained cheeks and made him look into his eyes. Gakushuu kept his cool, kept himself firm, but calm. “Karma, _look_ at me.” Body shaking and eyes spilling tears, Karma obeyed, trying to make sense of everything. 

Never tell an anxious person to calm down; that much he knew. But he needed to breathe. “You need to breathe, okay? Breathe with me, Karma. In… 2… 3… 4… Out… 2… 3… 4…” He repeated it over and over as he carefully pried Karma's arms apart to put the clawing to a stop, taking his shaking hands into his own, pulling them to his chest so Karma could feel Gakushuu breathing with him. It seemed like it was working, but Gakushuu's heart broke when he felt his shirt was wet and sticky; Aoi was crying… a lot, but he was doing his best to keep it silent so he wouldn't freak out his dad. Oh shit, and he'd wet himself. Dammit!When Karma saw those violet eyes wavering, his calm broke and he started freaking out all over again. His rock broke; his calm broke; what happened!? Why was this happening!? He saw the red hair on Gakushuu's back and realized Aoi was seeing all this. Shit. Shit! Aoi shouldn't be seeing this! He had to calm down! Of course these thoughts just made his panic and breathing far worse. 

“Karma!” He said a bit louder than last time so he would look at him; it startled him, but the man's golden eyes broke away from his upset son and he just stared wide-eyed at Gakushuu; it was getting to the point he was gasping for air because he was unable to breathe properly. Shit. This was bad. This was really, really bad. “Karma, listen to me. You need to breathe, honey. Can you do that? Can you breathe with me?” At first he looked confused, but he managed a shaky nod and Gakushuu counted for him again. No matter how upset Aoi was, he couldn't let it affect him; to help them both, he had to stay calm and relaxed. “Good, you're doing so good,” Gakushuu encouraged him softly, noticing his hands were starting to shake less. “Just like that.” 

Slowly, Karma felt his calm returning; reality was setting back in and he wasn't in panic mode. He was alright. Things were alright. Aoi was safe. No one was hurting them. This man was helping and everything was okay. His grip tightened on Gakushuu's hands and he let himself get lost in those gorgeous pools of violet as he counted and helped him breathe. Everything was going to be alright. It took about ten minutes, but Karma finally broke out of it and was able to speak again. “I'm sorry, I…” What could he say? He was extremely embarrassed and ashamed to let himself be seen like that by anyone. Shouldn't he been over all this bullshit? Why did he lose it? “I'm sorry.” That was all he could say. 

Ah, so Aoi wasn't kidding when he said his papa did the same thing. “Don't apologize, you were just worried about your son.” Gakushuu smiled warmly, allowing Karma to hold his hands for as long as he needed. “Aoi, you can open your eyes now. Okay? He's all better.” But Aoi burrowed into him tighter; he was still scared. Seeing his papa hurting like that was scary. It'd been so long since the last one that he'd forgotten how scared watching his papa have an attack made him feel. 

Even though it hurt to see his son cling to someone else, Karma understood. It was just as hard, if not harder, on Aoi than it was Karma. “I'm sorry.” The door swung open and in ran Itona, who stopped in his tracks when he saw the same man from the bar extremely close to Karma. Did… did Karma seriously take someone home? “I...tona?” He blinked, confused as to why he would be here. 

“Aoi called…” He pulled the knife out of the wall and blinked a few times; there was some blood on it. Aoi heard the familiar voice and ran to him, making the small man hold him. Nice as Gakushuu was, he was far more comfortable with Itona—his favorite aside from his papa. “Hey buddy,” he smiled softly, kissing his head as he closed the butterfly knife and walked towards the two men on the ground. “Karma, who did you cut?”

“Me,” Gakushuu said immediately before explaining what had happened so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. Aoi seemed to mumble his confirmation and Itona didn't see any reason not to believe them. Karma would die before he hurt Aoi. “I swear this was all just one big misunderstanding.”

Karma sighed, knocking his head back on the wall, “Fuck.” He saw that Gakushuu's ear was pretty much dripping blood and that they were still holding hands. Karma quickly pulled away from him, feeling… cold, at the loss of contact. Odd. Not wanting to think into that, he got up and helped Gakushuu to his feet. “I'll take a look at your ear. I really didn't mean to hurt you.” 

Itona decided he'd ask about the man from the bar after he was gone… but he was very curious. He was about to speak when all of a sudden Aoi realized what he'd done in his big boy pants and started freaking out. “Papa! Papa I'm sorry! Papa help! I didn't mean to!” Of course Karma knew exactly what those words meant and broke away from Gakushuu to get to his son. “Papa,” he cried, burrowing into him. “I swear I didn't mean to.”

“Hey, bunny… it's okay. Don't apologize. You didn't do anything bad.” He held his son close to him, tears building up at the thought of just how much he'd hurt his son by losing his cool. Fuck, he was a terrible father. “Itona, can you check out Gakushuu's ear. I need to… do something.” Before he could answer, Karma was already locking the bathroom door behind him and setting Aoi down on the ground. “Baby, it's okay,” he said as he kneeled down in front of Aoi, who just kept crying, keeping his big blue eyes on the floor. “Bunny,” he said softly, cupping his child’s cheeks and trying to meet his eyes, but the child refused. “Aoi. Aoi, honey. Look at me. Look at Papa, please.” Bloodshot blue eyes glanced up at him and he took a deep breath. Now was not the time to berate himself. He had to stay strong for his son. “We can just take a bath and it'll be like it never happened. You don’t need to be ashamed or anything. It’s not a big deal, Aoi. Things happen, okay?”

“I peed,” he cried softly. “In my big boy pants. And on Shuu.” Karma bit his lip… hopefully the guy wouldn't freak out. 

Putting aside his panic and anxiety, he smiled warmly at his baby boy and kissed his forehead. “And that’s okay. I know you hate peeing in your big boy pants, but it’s okay. Everything is okay. Papa isn’t upset with you. As for Shuu, he's really, really nice. He won't care.” Aoi sniffled and wiped his nose on his papa’s shirt. “I love you, bunny.”

“I love you too, Papa. I'm sorry I got so scared and tried to make Shuu not help you.”

What? Karma didn't really get what he meant by not letting Shuu help him considering the man had indeed helped him, but decided not to say anything about it. No sense in bringing it up and making them both upset again. “It's alright. Everything is okay.” Karma kissed Aoi’s forehead before starting up the bath while Aoi stripped, still sniffling and kind of crying, which killed Karma's heart. Hearing his son so upset over shit like this hurt. And Aoi felt so ashamed; he could barely meet his papa's eyes. Peeing in his big boy pants was always so embarrassing; he hated it. He didn't understand why it kept happening. Why couldn't he be good? Why couldn't he be strong like his papa? It wasn't fair. 

When Karma saw that his son hadn’t calmed down and was still crying, a few tears slipped down his own cheeks because he hated this. He hated when his baby was upset. Especially since this was _his_ fault. Karma hugged him tightly, assuring him that it was okay… assuring him that it happened to everyone at some point and that no one was mad at him. Aoi just clung to his papa as tight as he could and cried. He just wanted to be better for his papa… so he wouldn’t leave, too. So he wouldn’t give him away to his friends. They stayed like that for a while, bath nearly forgotten and cold, just holding each other close as Aoi bawled in his papa’s big, strong, picture-filled arms. All he wanted to do was make his papa happy, and here he was making him sad. 

It just _wasn’t fair_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, kudos, and comments.


	4. Leave Karma Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gakushuu gets off on the wrong foot with Itona, also manages to get on Korosensei's bad side, and then a disagreement breaks out between Karma and Korosensei.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long day, but managed to get this edited. There probably aren’t too many mistakes. Hopefully. Hope you like it.

While the Akabane's were in the bathroom, Itona was sitting next to Gakushuu on the couch, checking out his right ear. “Um… are you in a lot of pain?”

“Not particularly, why?” Itona took a picture of the damage and Gakushuu blanched when he showed him; Karma had split his cartlidge pretty deep. “Oh fuck.” No wonder it was bleeding so badly. 

“You need to go to the hospital.” The man shook his head. “Seriously, you need to—”

“No!” He couldn't afford it… his father had taken him off of his insurance the second he broke protocol. “I'm tight on money and I can't afford it.” He was living out of his car for Christ’s sake, what made this guy think he could afford a trip to the hospital?

Tight on money? What did that matter!? “Dude, money won't matter if your ear gets infected and you die.” Gakushuu didn't know what to make of his tone; his words said he cared, but his tone made it seem like he couldn't give less of a fuck. “Why are you even here? Surely you two didn't fuck.”

And at that Gakushuu nearly choked. “Oh my God, _no_!” Why would he even think that!? “Dude. What the fuck?” Itona furrowed his eyebrows, a little taken aback that this guy seemed so… almost disgusted, that he even asked that. “Why the fuck would you ask that? Seriously, ew.”

Okay… that was it. “You should… you should go.” This man would be bad for Karma, and he knew it. Clearly Karma already felt like he liked him to an extent considering he was in his house and most likely slept in his bed… Itona knew exactly how Karma was when he was tired and he's pulled the same shit time and time again with his own friends. Itona couldn't count the number of times Karma had hurt them unintentionally and went insane. The only person he hadn't hurt and would never ever hurt was his child. If they got any closer, Karma would get hurt…

“My fucking ear is cut like this and you expect me to fucking leave? Fuck you, dude. I don't even have my car.” Beforehand he'd thought this guy was maybe kind of sweet, but now? No. And he wasn't about to deal with this shit. 

Itona scowled, eyes darkening and fist aching to punch this guy in his nose… maybe just rip the rest of his ear off. “I will take you to the hospital and pay your bill, just leave Karma alone.”

“What?” He scoffed, “No. I happen to enjoy his company, he's an amazing bartender, and his child is adorable.” Now Itona was just pissed off because this guy was going to rope Karma into trouble… he was going to gain Karma's trust and then shatter his heart into a million pieces. If he was this quick to have Karma be comfortable with him, then he foresaw the man falling for him… in turn, Gakushuu would be disgusted and who knew what the hell would happen if Karma broke again? None of them wanted to find out. “As for my ear, I don't know. I'll look it up.”

While he did that, Itona called Korosensei until he picked up. The man seriously still went by that and no one but Karma knew his real name. It was around the fifth time when the man answered. “Hello?”

“Karma cut some guy’s ear during a panic attack and it definitely needs stitches. Come to his apartment.” He hung up before the man could say anything else, not one to stay on the phone with anyone for too long. “His dad will fix you up. After that I will take you to your car and you will leave Karma the fuck alone.”

Ha, that was laughable. “I will do what I damn well please. I don't take orders from the likes of you.” This Itona person was a fucking asshole. 

The… likes of him? What the hell was that supposed to mean? “Likes of me, huh? Well Karma and I are pretty close, so if you're going to be around, you'd better get used to _the likes of me_.” Things were incredibly tense between the two of them, both subtly glaring at each other. They were dead silent until Korosensei showed up. Itona answered the door and let the man do his business while he waited at the dining room table glaring at the wall and trying to think of ways to either make that man leave Karma alone, or how to get away with murder. The latter sounded more appealing, but was probably impossible for him. 

Of course Karma had to give someone one of the most irritating cuts he could… this wasn’t an easy fix for just anyone, and healing would take a while. Good thing Korosensei was well versed in shit like this. First thing first: clean the wound and get some antiseptic on it. It was a very unpleasant experience and Gakushuu nearly started crying, letting out pained yelps and grunts as Korosensei forced his head down in the sink and ran water over it. If he wasn’t in so much pain, he would have noticed Itona watching with glee and merriment, grinning at his misfortune and agony. Once that was all finished, the man took Gakushuu back to the couch and turned on the lamp to get a better look. It was a clean cut, all the way through, and unfortunately about a half of the way down his cartilage before the first ridge. Yep, this was definitely going to be a pain in the ass. 

To take Gakushuu’s mind off of the pain, he started up a conversation as he gathered his tools. “So, how did you and Karma meet?” Seeing as though this man had yet to do anything rude, Gakushuu calmly gave him the short story of the night before all the way up until that afternoon when the man was out for his head. “Hmm, that's… interesting.” Honestly, he didn't like how close this guy got to his son and grandson in such a short amount of time; it rubbed him the wrong way. Surely he couldn't have gained Karma's trust in a 30 minute conversation. No one was that perfect… right? The man was in his home though, and had hung out with his kid, and Karma hadn't woken up once during it until the yelp woke him up. “Alright, even with the numbing shit, this is going to hurt, but you'll live.” Gakushuu just nodded, hissing at the pain and flipping Itona off when he snickered to himself. “Put the claws away boys, no need to stress Karma out further.” Though annoyed, they did so… but they were far from happy about it. 

Aoi was finished with his bath, ever so reliant on his father once more given the current situation, so Karma was stuck in some very awkward, uncomfortable positions when tending to him. Holding an overly clingy child while blow drying their hair was not as easy a task as one might think. Once he was all dry, Karma carried him to his room and got him dressed in his comfy clothes, and a pull-up, unfortunately. Karma knew it was probably the attack that triggered him wetting himself, but just to be on the safe side, he wanted him to wear it. With Aoi in some dark grey sweatpants, a plain black tee shirt, his dad's hoodie from college that basically swallowed him whole, and his fuzzy red socks, he was ready to face the world once more. 

Before joining the others, Karma went to his room and grabbed a tee shirt for Gakushuu to change into considering the one he was currently wearing probably had pee and blood on it. Once out in the living room, Karma took a look at the damage he'd caused and ran a hand through his hair. “Hey Dad, thanks for helping him.” The man merely hummed, too focused on the task at hand to really respond. “I am so, so sorry Gakushuu. Are you alright?”

“M’fine,” he managed to get out, wincing as the man stitched his ear back together. “No big deal.” It really was a big deal; this hurt like a bitch and he was on the verge of tears, but stayed strong. He didn’t want either Akabane to feel guilty or anything. 

Tough guy… Karma recalled similar situations he was in, getting stitched up by his dad. It was never pleasant. “Here's this for when you're done.” He tossed him the shirt and sat in his recliner, letting Aoi cuddle up to him all he wanted. “Thank you for looking after Aoi this morning… still sorry for trying to kill you. Also sorry for kind of kidnapping you in the first place.”

“Karma, seriously,” he chuckled softly, “It's okay. I really appreciate—ouch, _fuck_!” Korosensei may have done that on purpose… he didn't want them getting any closer than they already were. When it came to his Karma, he was overprotective and that was never going to change. When Karma gave him a ‘kicked puppy’ look, obviously feeling guilty for putting him in this situation, he smiled warmly. “I'm grateful you took me in. I haven't slept in a bed in weeks.”

Weeks? Damn… Karma frowned. “You can totally stay here as long as you need. Or I can put you up in a hotel if—”

“With what money, Karma?” His father snapped harshly, “You can barely afford your own rent.” Usually the only people Karma cared about was Aoi and himself, that was it… aside from Aoi and making him happy, he was selfish when it came to everyone else. Like hell he would willingly waste money on a total fucking stranger. It was out of character, and he didn't trust this. What was really going on here? Did they know each other _before_ they'd met in the bar? If so, this guy was not fucking alright in his book. Everything and everyone from Karma's past needed to fucking stay there. Especially the friends… most of those little assholes only hurt Karma in the end. 

“Because you know my living situation, I forgot,” he shot back, knowing he was making a big deal over nothing. Clearly he just didn't like Gakushuu, and Itona was definitely feeling the same way because they were both overprotective assholes. Strange as it was, he'd really taken a liking to Gakushuu, especially since his child seemed to like him as well. Aoi wasn't normally so quick to trust either thanks to his dad. “Dad, I'm fine. You would know that if you actually did your fucking job. The bar is doing way better than you thought it would.” Yeah, Korosensei tried to dissuade Karma from starting up his own business, especially a bar due to the late hours and abundance of alcohol, but Karma was pretty persistent. Making alcoholic beverages was what he did best, and the only way he would make enough to do what he wanted and live comfortably was to own his own bar. Plus he got to spend the days with his son, which was really, really wonderful. 

Being in the middle of a father-son spat was definitely awkward, but he tried not to get into it; it wasn't his business. “Then why are you still living here?”

“Here is safe. Aoi and I have been here for two years and we like it. It's cozy.” And that was the truth. Plus, he knew his neighbors and they were all pretty good in his book. Not to mention it wasn't too far away from the bar. “It's home.” Their new home… the first place Karma felt was really his own. So many new memories were made in this apartment, and the thought of leaving just… made his heart sink. Both of them were happy here, so he wasn't going to move until he genuinely had to. Itona walked over and sat on Karma's lap, er leg… Aoi was taking up half of him, leaving little space for the small man. “Thank you for coming over, and I'm sorry if I interrupted anything.”

“Just completely blue balled Ryouma, nothing big.” Itona always put Karma first, even above the man he frequently slept with. They weren't dating, per se, but… they weren't just friends either. What he’d told Karma was a lie, though, as he'd actually been lazing around the house eating chocolate, but he wanted to gauge Gakushuu's reaction; if he was homophobic, he couldn't be around Karma. The guy scrunched his nose a bit… but maybe that was just because Itona was speaking so openly about sex? In time he would know, but he couldn't say for sure with so little to go on. 

“What's blue balled?” Aoi whispered in his father's ear, who snorted loudly. “What?” he pouted, unsure of what was so funny. 

Chuckling lightly, Karma lied to him. “Exactly what it sounds like, baby: Itona pelted idiot Terasaka with blue balls and then left him alone to suffer in pain.”

“Why were they playing with balls? Tona hates balls ‘cause they hit him in the face all the time. Was he getting Roma back for the kickball time?” This had everyone trying to hold back their laughter because these words sounded very wrong coming from the mouth of a toddler. Of course he was an innocent little bean, not yet corrupted by the world, so he had no idea why everyone was laughing. “Papa!” He cried as he hid his face in his papa's neck, hating it when people laughed at him; he was very self-conscious and anxious when it came to things like that. 

“Bunny, it's alright,” he kissed his cheek, shushing him gently. “They aren't laughing at you. You just said something cute is all.” Aoi cuddled into him, trying not to let the laughs get to him. They weren't making fun of him… he didn't do something stupid… everything was okay. “Aoi, I promise,” Karma whispered, squeezing his baby boy tightly, reveling in his warmth. “You're perfect.” Aoi nodded, lifting his head just enough to kiss his dad on the lips, rubbing their noses together. “Love you baby.” Karma kissed him one more time before hugging him close. 

“Wuv you too, Papa,” he murmured into his neck, nipping at him a bit. Yeah, Aoi liked to bite him, but he didn't bite anyone else, and it wasn’t hard, so Karma didn't really mind. “Promise you're all better now?”

Hearing him sound so wary and sad about that broke Karma's heart. “Yeah baby, Papa's all better now.”

“Was it my fault?”

“No baby,” he hugged him again, “I just got scared because I forgot Gakushuu was in the apartment.”

Aoi was silent for a moment. “So it's Shuu's fault?”

“Exactly. All Shuu's fault.” Karma grinned teasingly at the man, who merely smirked in response, taking the blame wholeheartedly if it meant Aoi would be happy. “Did you have lots of fun with him this morning?”

The little boy nodded, brightening up considerably upon thinking about his morning. “Yup! I forgot ta close the door and he saw me on the potty! And then I chased him and made him help me wash my hands! Then me an’ Shuu ate fruit loops…” He proceeded to tell his father every single thing they did, not a single detail he remembered was left out, and by the end of it Karma felt really, really bad for cutting Gakushuu to the extent that he did. After how sweet and helpful he'd been, only to be repaid with pain, stitches, and a scar; hell yeah Karma felt like shit about it. Itona just rolled his eyes, hating that Aoi liked that asshole, and Korosensei tried not to let his annoyance get the better of him and hurt the guy even more than he already was. Karma didn't get close to people so quickly… it just didn't happen. If this was someone from Karma's past like he thought, then there was no way this was happening. 

“Why didn't you wake me up, baby?” A lot of this could have been avoided if someone had. Not that he was blaming anyone else, it was all on him, it just might not have happened had he known. 

“You were sleepy… Gampy always says you need more sleep.”

“Bunny, Papa is never too sleepy for you.” Aoi smiled at him, but didn't really believe him. This was the first time he'd seen his dad not have such dark bags under his eyes, and he seemed a lot happier… which meant sleep really did do him well. “I'm used to being up for you, so don't worry about it, alright?”

The little boy nodded, but continued to worry; if he woke his papa up too much, being taken away by his grandpa or Nagisa could happen and he didn't want that! His papa had to stay with him forever and ever—even when he was 30! Aoi was never leaving his side! “Can we go to the park?”

“Um… yeah, after Gakushuu is all stitched up, I can drop him off at his car and—”

“Shuu too!”

Karma blinked a few times before glancing up at the man, who laughed through his nose. “I obviously have zero plans, so I'd be happy to accompany you.”

Aoi looked to his father because he didn't quite understand that whole sentence. “Looks like Gakushuu is coming too!” It was weird for him to see Aoi so comfortable around this new person, but despite being three, Aoi had always had a good judge of character… Karma trusted him, and his gut. And everything was pointing to the same thing: Gakushuu was a good guy and had no intentions of hurting them. “You wanna stay with Itona while I get ready?” Aoi nodded happily, kissing his father one last time before hopping up. Itona let out a disgruntled sigh, getting off as well and allowing Aoi to climb up him like a pole. 

While Karma got ready, Gakushuu felt awkward; these two men obviously didn't like him and he hadn't the slightest clue as to what he'd done wrong. But none of them said anything to him about it; they just spoke to Aoi and pretended he wasn't there. Which was fine by him because he was too irritated and hungover to deal with their bullshit. Having his ear stitched together wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world, but the numbing stuff Karma's father had put on really seemed to help. Watching them all interact, it was clear that Aoi was very close to Itona, while he seemed a little apprehensive around his grandfather. Seemed unlike him given his bubbly, outgoing personality, but Gakushuu figured that his grandpa wasn't really the children type, seeing as though the man kept Aoi at a distance most of the time. 

After about ten minutes, Aoi decided to go bug his father in the shower, leaving the three men alone. Itona was the first to break the now tense, awkward silence. “Have Karma drop you off at your car and leave them alone.”

“No,” he said simply, rolling his eyes and getting on his phone. God, this guy was annoyingly persistent. 

Since both Akabane boys were gone and he'd been able to get a read on the current situation, Korosensei decided to intervene this time. “I agree with Itona. Leave Karma and his kid alone.”

“Um, no…?” Had he not made himself clear the first time? Why were they so insistent about this? It was starting to get on his nerves.

Sighing, Korosensei finished up the stitching and put everything away before pinning the guy to the couch. “You _will_ leave my son alone.” Gakushuu was no stranger to fighting given his involvement in self-defense courses with his father, and karate classes all throughout grade school, so he fought back rather well. Since the man hadn't been expecting it, Gakushuu managed to break free onto the ground… which only allowed him to kick Gakushuu in the stomach and pin him down there. No escape for him this time because Korosensei was far more street smart than Gakushuu could ever hope to be… considering where and how he'd grown up, fighting and defense was a must-know, and he wasn't above playing dirty. “Karma doesn't need you to fuck up his life. I know how fucks like you are. You weave your way into someone's life with your charisma and charm, but as soon as you get what you want, you'll leave him alone and heartbroken.”

“What the fuck is with you people!?” He snarled, trying to squirm free, but to no avail. His arms were effectively pinned behind his back, and his leg movement was cut off by the man's weight. This guy was good… too good. Had he not been so irritated, he might have been a little more scared. “I don't want anything like that! All I want is a fucking friend. A real friend.”

Itona narrowed his eyes, “This is a big city. Look elsewhere. Karma doesn't need anyone else in his life. Especially assholes like you.” He was fake… a people pleaser. Did whatever necessary to have his way. In the end he would hurt Karma… he just knew it. 

Gakushuu scoffed, “Well that isn't for you to decide, now is it!? You don't even fucking know me!” Struggle as he might, he just couldn't get out. “If you don't let me go right now, I will get Karma in here.”

Not liking that, Itona got up and grabbed the closest cloth-like object—Aoi's blanket for his stuffed animals—before walking over and shoving it into Gakushuu's mouth, keeping it secure with his hand. There; couldn't scream now. Violet eyes glared up at him evilly and that just went to show how dangerous he could possibly be. That was not a glare of a good person. Hell, that was not the glare of a _sane_ person. “Karma just got his fucking head on straight and I refuse to allow you to ruin him,” Korosensei snapped.

What the hell were they talking about!? It wasn't like he intended to befriend Karma and fuck up his life; he genuinely wanted to be friends with him. After last night, he just felt so drawn to him… Karma was real with him, and funny, and really cool. All he wanted was a fucking friend, and he was willing to fight for this one because he'd really felt a connection with the guy, and his kid. A hand embedded itself into his hair, forcing him to crane his neck and look back; he met dark, almost murderous grey eyes. That glare sent shivers down his spine; it reminded him so much of his father that he almost felt sick. “You're not strong enough to be friends with my boy. The second you hear something you don't like, you'll run. And when you run, that'll hurt him. Don't get involved with him if you know what's good for you.”

Clearly these people had trust issues and were far too overprotective of a grown man who was obviously more than capable of fending for himself. Gakushuu wasn't a coward, and Karma wasn't a bad or scary dude. Why were they making him out to be some sort of criminal? If it was something from his past, then whatever! It was in the past and it was clearly no longer an issue for him. The second they heard the bathroom door open, Itona and Korosensei removed themselves from him and went back to their seats. Meanwhile Gakushuu tore the blanket out of his mouth with a snarl, straightening it out and trying to wipe it off. Yeah, it'd have to be washed if Aoi didn't want his saliva all over the it. Sighing, he got to his feet and took his seat on the opposite side of Korosensei, not wanting to be near such hostile and aggressive people. They had no business treating him like that. 

“Papa’s so big!” They heard Aoi's awe-filled voice. “I wanna be big too!”

“You'll get bigger, bunny,” he chuckled, “If you're anything like me, then you'll shoot up like a plant around sixth grade.”

Aoi was hesitant to respond the way he wanted to, but did so anyway. “But… but what if I'm not like Papa…? What if like my mommy?” Karma nearly started choking and Korosensei sprang up as soon as he heard ‘not like papa’ leave the child's lips. 

Gakushuu didn't want to pry, but decided it couldn't be helped if they had the talk and he was around to hear it. “Aoi, how many times do I have to tell you—”

“Oh my…! Dad, you need to fucking stop!” Karma shouted angrily, “Stop getting mad at him for doing nothing wrong! He can ask about his mom! I've moved on and I'm over her!” Aoi apologized like a broken record for causing trouble and Karma sighed, hugging his baby to his chest. “Aoi, your mom was beautiful and wonderful, and you'd be so lucky to be anything like her. Trust me when I say she loved you, even though she left. She just wasn't ready to stop being a kid.” Hell, he hadn't been either, but he did so for Aoi because he wasn't as selfish as everyone liked to say he was. From the moment he found out he was going to be a daddy, his entire world revolved around his new family. Even after Irina left, he still loved her as a person, and he couldn't blame her for leaving. If it had been him years before that, he wouldn't have stayed either—abortion would have been his decision back then. “You can ask about her all you want, honey. Don't let your idiotic grandpa scare you.”

Then they started whispering, and then Aoi ran to Itona before a door slammed. “Tona, I made Gampy mad.”

“No, Gakushuu made your grandfather mad. And your papa made him even more mad. It wasn't your fault.”

Those big, bright blue eyes shot over to Gakushuu and he frowned. “Shuu made Gampy mad? But why?”

“Because he wants to hu—”

“If you finish that sentence I will not hesitate to tell Karma what happened.” Itona just rolled his eyes and stopped talking. “It's just been kind of stressful, Aoi. Don't worry about it. No one is mad at you.”

Itona growled, holding Aoi closer to him. That asshole needed to leave them alone and stop trying to get close to Aoi. While they glared at each other, Aoi frowned; what was going on? Every time someone outside of their group got involved with his papa, everything seemed to go bad. But he liked Shuu… he was nice. With a small sigh, he wiggled out of Itona's arms and grabbed Fuck before curling up on the floor so he could finish coloring what he'd started before all the madness happened. “Shuu help.” Gakushuu was hesitant, but did so when it seemed like Itona wasn't going to fight him. 

Back in Karma's room, the two men were quietly bickering back and forth. “You are not over Irina and you know it. You still freak out and cry over her. We all know it.”

“Yes I am!” He rolled his eyes as he aggressively pulled his black tee shirt over his head. “No I fucking don't! And Aoi has a right to know.” He got into his closet and pulled out one of his lighter flannels: green and black check.

“Aoi is three. He has no rights. It's better that you don't talk about it.”

Flannel on and sleeves rolled up his forearms, he then grabbed a random pair of dark jeans, stepping into them as he spoke. “Aoi is a person and he does have rights, three or not. My baby can know and do whatever he wants!”

“Your baby is going to get you in trouble one of these days. One day he's going to push too far and you'll lose it. You'll—”

A sharp glare pierced through the black haired man like a spear; golden eyes narrowed and shining with a fury like no other. “You know damn well that I would never hurt my son, Sebastian. He is my entire life and you need to stop treating him like a fucking burden all the time.” Buttoning up his dark, ripped up skinny jeans, he tried not to get angry, but Korosensei was really making it hard. 

“You'd still have Irina if he wasn't here.” He liked Irina… she was good for Karma. 

“I never would have gotten so close to Irina if Aoi wasn't here!” You know what? No. He couldn't do this anymore. Disrespecting his child so openly and being mean to him… Karma wasn't letting him get away with it any longer. “If you can't treat Aoi correctly, then I don't want you around anymore.”

“You're going to kick me out of your life, but you'll let some new piece of shit who's only trying to use you in it?” Karma bristled at this because he wasn't just letting Gakushuu into his life! Obviously they had quite a ways to go considering what Karma had done to him! And Gakushuu wasn't trying to use him—there was nothing he wanted from Karma that required using him. “You just fucking met him! He probably just wants to get in your fucking pants like everyone else and then he'll leave. Even if he doesn't, the second he finds out how disgusting your past was, he'll leave and you'll break.” Karma was stunned he would say something like that; usually he wasn't so quick to insult him and his past. “If you love Aoi, you will stick with what you know and don't get close to anyone else. If Aoi doesn't break you, someone new will. And I don't want to see you go down that self destructive road again, Karma. I love you, and—”

Tears started building up in his eyes. “If you _loved_ me, you wouldn't be saying this shit! Stop babying me! How can I ever get better if all you guys do is keep me away from every goddamn person on the planet!?” Of course he was grateful when they drove away the people who tried to use him and just wanted sex, but Gakushuu? He wasn't like that; he wasn't even _gay_ as far as Karma knew, so there was no need to push him away. Besides… Aoi liked him, Karma believed he really was a nice guy. “I'm a big boy now, Pops! I'm not how I used to be and I never will be. If Gakushuu proves to be too much, I will leave him alone, but you have no right to judge him so quickly.”

“He will hurt you. Those eyes scream danger, and I don't like it.” Korosensei had always had a thing about eyes… reading people and the like. Usually he was accurate… but this time, Karma wasn't so sure. “I don't want this person to destroy all of your hard work.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Karma scowled. “You really think _one fucking person_ is going to destroy me? That's so fucking stupid. If I was unable to handle being around and talking to people, I couldn't own a successful bar, now could I!? You know damn well that I'm more mature now… I won't do anything to jeopardize things with my son. All I'm doing is being nice to someone who seems like a genuinely good person. He's not a bad guy.”

That was hypocritical; Karma was being just as hasty, deeming a stranger he'd barely talked to a ‘good guy’ after a fucking day. “Having that little devil softened you, and one of these days, it's going to bite you in the ass.”

“Apologize.” Tears brimmed those golden eyes, threatening to spill at any moment; it was one thing to insult him, but his child!? No. No fucking way was he going to allow that bullshit. When the man stood there with his eyes narrowed angrily, obviously not going to apologize, Karma snapped. “Get out,” he seethed, pointing to the door. “I don't want you around me or my son until you know how to fucking treat us.”

The man laughed bitterly, “I know how to treat you, dear. You're the one losing your edge. Letting a person inside of your walls so quickly. Do you have a fucking deathwish!? What if he was a burglar or a rapist or something!?” Korosensei was just worried, and he knew he was not handling this properly, but he didn't want Karma to regress after all of their hard work. He didn't want someone to swoop in and ruin him… if Karma fucked up even once, Aoi would be taken away. Nagisa had said it multiple times—if Karma broke, he was taking Aoi until he was fixed. As much as Korosensei didn't like the child, he knew Aoi meant everything to Karma, and if he lost him…? Bad things would happen. Aoi would be motherless and fatherless… and no one wanted that. 

But Karma wasn't having this and just continued pointing to the door. “I can take care of myself. Just leave before I fucking make you.” When he made no attempt to move, Karma shoved him. “Go!”

“Fine. I'll go. If you're all grown up and can take care of yourself, fine. You obviously don't need me in your life anymore. Don't need me to protect you or have your back. So I'll go, Karma. And I won't be back.” He was already out the door by the time Karma had reached out for him; he didn't want the man out of his fucking life! But he was just so frustrated and he hated that everyone treated him like a child—like he couldn't do shit for himself. “Aoi, give Grandpa a kiss.” No, he didn't particularly like the child, but the child liked him and he wasn't going to leave him without a goodbye. 

No… no he couldn't leave. Karma still needed him; even if he babied him, he still needed his dad. Karma went to stop him, to beg him not to go… but he was already gone. So Karma rushed out after him, nearly falling down the stairs in his haste. “Dad! Dad wait, please.” He called out to him, and the man did stop… hearing his son's broken voice killed him. “Please, I'll be good. I promise I'll be a good boy,” he cried, only hurting his heart more. “Just please don't—”

Unable to handle his son's tears any longer, Korosensei turned around and hugged Karma close, inhaling his comforting scent of cinnamon and cedar wood. “I won't leave, baby. I'm sorry. I overreacted. It's just… I worry, and sometimes you overlook things.”

They stayed silent for a moment, hugging and trying to calm down. “Trust me… please.”

“Honey, I want to… I really do. But if you fall for this man, and it turns out he isn't gay or doesn't like you, or finds out about your past…? Karma, think of what that could do to Aoi.” Whether he liked the kid or not, he knew it would kill Karma if Aoi was upset. They didn't need this man interfering in their lives and getting close, only to leave once he either got what he wanted or found out Karma wasn't from a good background. Karma deserved happiness, and he didn't want anyone to make him happy if they weren't serious about staying. 

Yes, all that could be very bad… and he had a point because clearly Karma already had some sort of feelings for the man. Friendship could lead to more, and what happened if Karma really did fall and Gakushuu crushed him? But he couldn't keep living in fear. “If he hurts me, I know you'll be there to pick up the pieces. All of you will be…” Depending on them was the problem, because what happened if they couldn't be there? Karma had to be able to take care of himself in any situation. They loved him, but he couldn't just rely on them any time he got hurt. “Please just let me live… I'm 23. I'm an adult. Let me make mistakes, and let me get through them. I'll never be normal if I can't move past everything.” And fuck, did he want to be normal. He wanted to stop putting everyone through all this fucking bullshit. Especially his baby boy. 

Sighing, the man nodded. “Fine… you win, Karma. I get it. But if he hurts you… I can't promise I won't kill him.”

The dark look he had on his face just then, it never failed to scare Karma down to his very core. “Dad, you can't just—”

“You're my son. You're my world. If anything happens to you, you bet your ass I will do everything in my power to fix you.” Blood related or not, Korosensei loved Karma more than anything and anyone, and if anyone so much as touched a hair wrong on his body, there would be hell to pay. “I love you.”

It was terrifying when he got like this, but Karma knew he'd never really changed from back then… sure he was clean and sober, but he was still a slightly psychotic, violent man who was very much capable of getting away with murder. He'd done it multiple times… even before Karma had met him. As scary as it was, Karma loved that part of him… he loved how possessive and protective he made that man. It made him feel special… loved. To think someone was so willing to do anything to protect him… It was a wonderful feeling. “I love you too, Dad. Thank you,” he hugged him tightly, smiling when the man kissed his head so tenderly. 

“I'll see you tomorrow, dear.” And with that, he was gone.

Karma went back inside to find Aoi and Gakushuu on the floor coloring while Itona was curled up in the recliner, texting. “Itona, you can go if you want. Things are all good now.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “Unless you want to come to the park with us.” Either way, Karma wouldn't mind; Itona was more than welcome to tag along. 

Weighing his options, he shrugged. “If Aoi doesn't mind…”

“Tona too!” he squealed excitedly, abandoning his coloring book to run over and jump the stoic man. “And Roma! And Nagi!” Blue eyes locked in on Karma's eyes, silently begging him. 

“Uhm…” Oh no, not the pouty look! Clearly he had been spending too much time with Nagisa, using that look against him. _Damn_ , his kid was good. “Alright bunny, I'll check with them.”

Giggling, he squeezed Itona and then hopped off of him to squeeze Gakushuu, and finally jumping up and down in front of his dad as he texted his friends, impatiently awaiting their replies. When he got to affirmative, he squared and jumped into his papa’s arms, excited to be with everyone for the first time in like _a kajillion years._ “Yay!”

Gakushuu was not too thrilled about being joined by more people who would probably treat him with such aggressive hostility, but he'd already told Aoi he'd go. Not to mention he wanted to get to know Karma a little better. A new town meant a fresh start, and he wanted to make the best of this move. No more being so uptight and anal; it was time to let himself loose and have genuine friendships with real people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, kudos, and comments.


	5. Got it, Carrot Top?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang heads to the park, Gakushuu tells Karma a little more about himself, Karma and Gakushuu go out to eat with Aoi afterwards and get to know each other a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was gonna post earlier, but I fell asleep while editing it. Whoops. I hope you’re enjoying it so far.

Ten minutes later, and they were all piled into Karma's car and headed towards the park to meet up with both Ryouma and Nagisa. They were mainly coming for Aoi's happiness, but also to check out this new person trying to come into Karma's life that Itona had already texted them about. Aoi demanded MGK and Karma happily complied because that was one of his favorite rappers. Like father like son—or maybe father just played it far too much and Aoi was forced to like him. But who knew? Itona was smaller, so he was in the back next to Aoi while Gakushuu was up front talking to Karma. “Thank you for the shirt and jacket,” Gakushuu smiled at him. “And for letting me stay the night.”

Karma waved him off, “No, you don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you for not sueing my stupid ass.”

“You were just worried about your son. Shit happens.” Even though his ear really hurt, he would live with it; in the future, they'd probably look back on this day and laugh. “Besides, now I've got battle scars. And it'll be a fun story to tell.”

Well, that was one way to look at it. Still, Karma was baffled he was taking this so well. If someone threw a knife at him and injured him to such an extent, he couldn't say that he'd be so forgiving. But here Gakushuu was befriending him. “You're taking this way too well.”

Maybe so, but he didn't give a shit; he liked Karma, and he liked Aoi. This was his second chance at life, and he wanted to make the most of, he wanted be friends with someone real and be spontaneous and do whatever the hell he wanted. Most importantly, he wanted to leave his past behind and live his own life—be his own person and follow a path not already paved for him. “Eh, I've had worse.” Karma quickly glanced over at him, concern lining his features, because what could possibly be worse than nearly losing an ear? Shit, he cursed internally. “Don't look at me like that… forget I said anything.” Honestly, it'd just slipped from his lips before he could think against it. Idiot. 

Since Karma knew exactly how it felt to be prodded at for details he didn't want to give, he complied and changed the subject. As much as he wanted to say he was all ears for whatever it was that was bothering him, that wouldn't be fair… not since Karma wouldn't do the same. They'd just met; that level of trust hadn't been reached, yet, and it probably wouldn't for a while. “So what's the deal with you living in your car?”

Ugh, he didn't really want to talk about that either; the last thing he wanted was for Karma to feel sorry for him and take pity on him for pretty much being a broke lowlife. “Y'know how I said my dad was insane?” Karma made an affirmative noise. “Well, he cut me off from everything like a month ago after I broke things off with my fiancée after she told me what he'd been doing. After I found that shit out, I blew up and told him I was never going to work for him again. So he cut me off, and basically took all of my money that he could. Thankfully I was smart enough to have a private account, but funds are tight, and I can't afford to waste money, especially on a hotel room, until I find a steady job.”

“Work at the bar,” Karma said almost immediately, because why not? He liked the guy, his kid liked the guy, and they were a bit short handed at the moment. “And while you're saving money, you can crash at my place or whatever until you're comfortable with your finances.” After today, Karma felt like he owed Gakushuu… not only did he throw a knife at him and injure him, but Gakushuu took care of his kid without prompting, just so Karma could sleep. And Karma hadn't woken up, which meant he was no threat to them; at least, he was pretty sure. Gakushuu was just like he'd been at 14, and eventually at 15: sad and looking for a place to belong, with people he could trust. 

Violet eyes went wide at this proposal, looking over at Karma to see the dead serious look on his face. Tears welled in his eyes; he'd found an angel. “Karma, I can't ask you to—”

“You didn't ask, I offered.”

Well… he got him there, but still! “I don't know the first thing about mixing alcohol, or even cooking.”

That was problematic, but so long as he was a quick learner, he'd do just fine. “You seem like a smart guy, I'm sure you'll catch on quick.”

“That's not the point,” he frowned, “I don't want to be a burden or anything… and I definitely don't want your pity.”

“Not pity,” Karma argued, furrowing his brows. “It's the least I could do, after what I did…” Gakushuu stayed silent, really weighing his options here: on the bright side, he could get closer to Karma, on the not so bright side, he'd be working in a field he knew close to nothing about, and Karma's friends more than likely worked there as well. “You don't have I decide right now, just think about it, alright?” He nodded. “So tell me about yourself.”

Tell him… about himself? What did that mean? Why did he want to know? _What_ did he want to know?” “Like what?”

“Well… let's start with your name, how old you are, what you plan on doing now that you're in a new town as a free man.”

Ah, he'd never gotten around to saying his last name, had he? “Gakushuu Asano… I'm—”

“Asano?” Karma knew he'd heard that name before… but where? “That sounds familiar.”

“My father is Gakuhou Asano, CEO of Asano Inc.; he owns a lot of luxury restaurants and hotels, shit like that. You've probably heard it in passing or something.”

While that could be it, Karma felt like it wasn't quite why the name sounded familiar. “Maybe, I dunno…” Who knows? Not Karma. It hurt his head to think about, though. “Anyway, continue.”

“Let's see… I'm 23, graduated from MIT about two years ago with bachelor's degrees in business and finance to eventually take over my father's company, so now that I'm done with him, I have no fucking clue what I'm doing with my life.” If he was being honest, it wouldn't be too hard to build his money back up if he played the stock market right, but that was so much like his shitty father, and he didn't want to be like him at all. 

Everything in the sentence was disregarded aside from three letters. MIT. MIT. M. I. T. What the fuck!? “Never mind, don't work at the bar. You're way too qualified to work at a bar. Fuck, you're probably more qualified than I am to run the damn thing. Shit. _Shit_. Dude, apply anywhere and you'll be set.”

That was not the reaction he was expecting… it almost seemed like Karma was intimidated by him, now. Shit, he hadn't meant to make him feel inferior. How was he supposed to make this right? “Karma, it's not that big of a deal…” Yeah. Smart. Nice going, Gakushuu. Not.

And now it 'wasn't that big of a deal' according to him!? Smart and humble!? Nope, he was way out of Karma's league in every sense. No way was he bringing him down to his level or tainting him. “Dude, it is a big deal. You're like a fucking genius or some shit!” God, he wished he had that kind of education; his bar was mediocre at best, but with that kind of schooling and training… he probably would have really made it big. Dammit… why did he have to ruin his life when he was a teenager? Things would be so much better for Aoi if… wait, if he hadn't fucked up as a teenager, Aoi wouldn't even be there. Never mind, he was glad it happened, if only because of Aoi and his amazing friends. But still… if he had that kind of education, he would have been set. “Goddamn, Gakushuu. You're gonna be just fine, I don't know what you're worried about.”

While that was comforting to hear, Gakushuu doubted it was accurate; his father knew a lot of people, and was probably dragging his name through the mud at that very moment. Unfortunately he was a very powerful, influential man… and if he didn't like you, no one he knew liked you. “First, I am not a genius. Second, I will not be fine if my father has any say in it. He can and will ruin me.” Fuck, he didn't even want to think about what that bastard was telling people… nothing good, that much he was sure of. 

“First, fuck off, you totally fucking are. And second, fuck him, prove to everyone how fucking great you are without him.” Karma wasn't normally one for pep talks, but he felt Gakushuu needed it… he hated it when bright, wonderful people like him looked down on themselves. It simply wasn't right. Plus, he was just letting his father dictate his life without even trying… living in fear was no way to live, and Karma was simply not having it. 

As expected from someone who probably had no idea of who exactly his father was and just how much he was capable of. In the world of big business, Gakushuu was fucked. But he simply waved Karma off, making light of the situation. “You fuck off, because I'm not. And besides, I don't even want to do all that shit anymore. That's why I skipped town, to start over. Be my own person. Choose my own path. Y'know, shit like that.”

Start over? But why? Why start over when he had so much going for him? Karma started over because he had to, but why would this insanely talented, brilliant, attractive man want to start from scratch? Yes, Karma was aware he wanted to meet new—real people, but that didn't require what he was trying to do. “Dude, you have so much going for you. This is a big city, and I'm sure you can find a really good paying job if—”

“I'll take the job.” Karma nearly came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road, but did not, because he wasn't about to endanger the lives of three innocent people. Oh, and the other people not inside the vehicle, them too… he guessed. Noticing Karma's baffled reaction, he spoke again. “Don't care how much it pays, I want it.”

No. No way in hell was Karma allowing Gakushuu to stoop so low. Hell, he didn't even want his friends to stoop that low, and yet they did. For him. Fuck, he was just dragging everyone down with him, wasn't he? Dammit. Why did he ever think for a second that any of this would be a good idea? “Um… nope.”

What!? That wasn't fair. Karma had literally just offered it to him no more than ten minutes ago. “But I want it.”

Not happening. No one else was allowed to sink because he couldn't swim; it wasn't fair to any of them. “Overqualified, application denied.”

“I didn't even give you an application,” he pouted, picking at the jacket he was wearing. 

“Good, because I would have thrown it away,” Karma deadpanned, trying to focus on the road and not how cute Gakushuu was acting. “You are way too good for my establishment. And so are you Itona… you're fired.”

Itona had been half listening to them the whole time, but this was the first time he'd been addressed. And he wasn't happy. “Fuck you. Fire me and I'll sue your ass for… unrightful termination, or some shit…” How would he know? He didn't go to fucking law school. But he knew he wasn't about to be fired just because Karma felt shitty again. Gakushuu was already fucking everything up and he hadn't even known him for 24 hours. 

“You majored in computer science, Itona. Yet you're making drinks at a shitty bar owned by a shitty lowlife.” Gakushuu wanted to protest, but was so taken aback by Karma's dampened mood that he couldn't bring himself to speak. Where was this suddenly coming from?

“S'not shitty,” he grumbled, kicking the back of his seat. “I can do what I damn well please, and you can't stop me.”

Whatever, Karma would fire them all later. For now, he simply rolled his eyes and continued driving, no longer in the mood to talk to anyone. Aoi had been fairly silent the whole way, as he typically liked listening rather than talking on car rides, so when he suddenly broke the silence, it scared the shit out of Karma. “Papa…”

He jumped out of his seat, “Yes, bunny?”

The little boy furrowed his brows. “You're not shitty…”

Everyone got a chuckle out of that, but Karma simply sighed. “Thanks, bunny.” Even if it was a lie, it was nice to hear. 

After that, everyone decided to be quiet until they arrived. 

xx

Aoi was holding his papa's hand as they walked towards the playground. It was rather chilly out that day, so it wasn't as busy, which Karma was grateful for. Gakushuu was beside him, fiddling on his phone and avoiding eye contact with everyone except Aoi, who was talking his ear off about what they'd spoken about earlier. “I know you like swingin' so you swing with me, Shuu! Papa says it makes 'im sick! So he just pushes me! That's okay cause I like when he make me go high, high, high!” The little boy was beaming and Gakushuu was trying to keep up with his rushed, sometimes mispronounced words. 

“Sorry, he talks fast when he gets excited,” Karma smiled apologetically. Gakushuu simply smiled, waving it off. It wasn't a big deal, he was glad Aoi liked him so much. 

Aoi hopped up and down as they made their way towards the swing set. “Papa can push you too, Shuu! Just like your mommy used to! Bafore she went up to Heaven!”

Karma nearly started choking at that comment because why would Aoi say that!? “Bunny, do not talk about his—”

“It's fine,” Gakushuu smiled warmly, “It happened a long time ago.” Wait… why did Aoi even know about Gakushuu's mom? Oh… he must've got curious and asked something, like he did with most of his friends. Whoops. Hopefully the man was being truthful when he said it was fine. “We can definitely swing together, Aoi. It'll be fun.” Hard as he tried, he couldn't match the boys seemingly unlimited enthusiasm. Especially after the conversation in the car… he felt so bad, making Karma feel so terrible. He honestly hadn't meant to strike a nerve. Perhaps the reason he barely had any real friends was partly his own fault… 

“Yay!” He giggled, pulling his papa and Gakushuu by their hands towards the swing set even faster. Such an impatient little bunny he had, Karma smiled to himself. But he loved him… so incredibly much. And he had no idea what he'd be doing without him. 

Behind them was Itona, Nagisa, and Ryouma, who were skeptically eyeing the disaster waiting to happen known as Gakushuu Asano. “He's not a good fit,” Nagisa huffed, hating that the man had managed to win over Aoi in absolutely no time at all. Usually Aoi was rather hesitant of strangers, but not this one. Why? What happened? What was it about this man that had the Akabane boys so enthralled? Something wasn't right. “I don't trust him.”

Itona nodded in agreement, but Ryouma… he was really the only unbiased one. As much as he loved Karma, he didn't want to shelter him. It wasn't fair to him at all. And they couldn't keep him from everything. “Just let him be, if Karma feels alright with him, we can't do anything. Stop worrying.” They both shot him an utterly betrayed look and he sighed, “I get that you want to protect him, but he's 23. He's an adult. You can't control his life.”

While Ryouma was almost never right… this time he actually made a valid point. And they hated that. Why did he have to be right? “I don't want him to get hurt.” Nagisa clenched his fists, looking ahead and watching as Aoi pushed Gakushuu into one of the swings and then took the swing next to him. Karma was frantically apologizing and Gakushuu was just laughing… Aoi seemed to be having fun as well. “I don't want Aoi to get hurt.” If this man truly was using Karma, it wouldn't just affect him this time… Gakushuu was getting close to Aoi as well, and Aoi didn't handle rejection or abandonment well at all. 

“Karma ain't as fragile as we like to think he is, guys. As much as I hate to say it, he don't need us to protect him from everything.”

Itona scowled, “He just met this person. You only become friends that fast if you are a fucking toddler. Karma is not thinking with his head.”

Nagisa huffed in agreement, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene. That should be him, or one of the others. Gakushuu didn't belong. “I hope ya ain't insinuating he's thinkin' with his dick. ‘Cause he ain't about that and you know it.”

“Ooh look, it learned a new word,” Nagisa giggled, and Itona high fived him for that wonderful dig. 

It took a lot more than one little insult to make him angry. 

“Idiot gorilla must have learned it from me~”

Okay, now he was angry. “You two fucks better shut up. So what if I learned it from you!? Bunch of fuckin' assholes.” With that, he stomped away towards Karma. They could throw their fit, but he was going to try to get on this guy's good side before everyone else ruined his chances. 

“Terasaka!” Karma furrowed his brows when he realized how angry he looked, “Damn, who pissed in your cereal?” He gave him that 'who the hell do you think?' look and Karma almost looked offended. “And they didn't invite _me_ …” For shame, he was always up for pissing that oaf off, all in good fun, of course. 

Aoi giggled at Terasaka's expense and the man bristled. “You better shut yer mouth, twerp. I'll punt you inta the next century.” It was a joke, and Aoi knew it was a joke, so he just squealed and grinned at him. “God, I still dunno how you produced somethin' so adorable, Karma.”

Fuck, he knows… how a baby raised by him turned out to be so innocent and adorable, despite the obvious potty mouth, he would never know. “He truly is perfect~”

“Papa's perfect!” 

He wished… he wished he was perfect so he could give Aoi the life he deserved, one where his mom didn't leave and he was home during the night and wasn't so exhausted all the time and didn't crave drugs from time to time… but things were alright the way they were now. Soon, he wouldn't crave the high even a little bit… he was almost through that phase in his life. “I'm far from it, baby. But that's okay, because lots of people aren't perfect.”

Aoi pouted, because he thought his papa was perfect and there was nothing anyone could do to change his mind. Because Aoi knew… he knew his papa was the perfectest, bestest papa in the whole wide world! “Papa is perfect to me!” Ugh, Karma hated when he said things like that… it always made him tear up. God, how did he get so lucky to have Aoi? Aoi made everything he'd ever been through worth it. 

Gakushuu watched as Karma smiled fondly at his child, tears welling up in his eyes… it was at that moment that he kind of understood something was wrong. Hearing his child say these things made him happy, but he didn't feel like he deserved such praise or kindness… he felt those words were untrue. Karma didn't seem to like himself… at all. That was going to change, he was going to make sure of it. Because while yes, Karma was a little rough around the edges and clearly had some issues, he didn't deserve to feel less than perfect. It didn't matter if they just met, Gakushuu knew he liked both Akabane's, and that was really all that mattered. Amount of time spent together be damned. 

xx

After playing at the park for about an hour and a half, Aoi taking turns with who he plays with and giving everyone a fair share of his time, he ended up even more pooped out than usual. It took a lot of work to play with everyone! And he always had to give his papa extra time in between turns because he loved him lots! The memory of the incident that morning was long forgotten and replaced with the fun they had afterwards with his favorite people. Minus Zuzu, who he really wished was there, but unfortunately had a day job at a café, as well as a demanding boyfriend. Apparently he loved him, but Karma didn't see the appeal in someone like he described… hell, he used to hang around a few dickheads like that and he wished that Izuku would take his head out of his ass and find a nice guy. Apparently he had redeeming qualities, but from what Karma heard, that wasn't true and Izuku was in denial; he didn't want to be wrong. But Karma wasn't about to play matchmaker when he was far from an expert in that category. 

But Aoi was happy nonetheless, the park was full of fun and Roma even got to know Shuu a little better, unlike Nagi and Tona, who just played with Aoi and ignored everyone else. Which was weird, but Aoi tried not to think about it too hard. Sometimes his papa's friends seemed to like his papa too much… like they wanted him all to themselves. Aoi didn't mind sharing so long as his papa still loved him the mostest. Which he did… Aoi knew he did. Why couldn't they just share him with Shuu? Aoi just didn't get it. 

By the time they were finished, Aoi was in his father's arms, complaining that he was sleepy and hungry. Since Itona was pissed at him for some stupid reason, he went home with Nagisa, who was also pissed at him—surprise surprise—and Terasaka had to pick up his sister soon, so that left Karma, Gakushuu, and Aoi to get lunch by themselves. Which the three of them were more than okay with… the presence of other people was definitely causing unneeded tension that Karma definitely didn't fail to pick up on. Clearly his friends were pissy about this new addition to their group, and it was annoying because why couldn't Karma do what he wanted? At least Terasaka was trying, but the two little brats were dead set on hating Gakushuu despite not knowing him, not even giving him a chance. 

But he didn't want to think about that, so he pushed it to the back of his mind and took Aoi to his favorite restaurant with Gakushuu in tow. After such a shitty start to the day, they all deserved a little pampering. “Karma, you can really just drop me off at my car. Seriously, you don't have to go through the trouble of feeding me.”

“S'cool, Gakushuu,” he shrugged, shutting off his car and getting out to grab his son. When the man made no move to get out, Karma literally dragged him out of the car, making Aoi giggle because 'Shuu is such a silly bug' or something like that. Honestly, Aoi was just the cutest. “You almost lost part of your ear because of me, so I am going to feed you and you are going to like it. Got it, carrot top?” 

Karma wasn't above using Aoi to get his way either, so he had the kid pout for him, saying, “Yeah! Got it, carrot top!?” Only his r’s sounded like w’s and his cheeks were adorably puffed out, glancing up at his dad at the end as if to ask ‘did I do it?’ It left the man with no choice; Gakushuu relented, calling foul play… but he was smiling, so Karma knew he wasn't mad.

They stepped inside and apparently like _everyone_ knew Karma because the hostess was all smiley and giggly with him. “Karma, glad to see you again. Little Aoi staying out of trouble?”

“Of course, look at this face,” Karma squished his child's cheeks together gently, careful not to hurt him. “Does that look like the face of a troublemaker?” Aoi blinked at the lady, both innocently and a tad bit confused. 

The girl laughed before taking them to a booth, “Aoi, you are such a sweetheart.” As they sat down, Gakushuu noticed her eyeing him a bit too long for his liking; like she was irritated by his presence. But he said nothing, not wanting to cause a scene or anything. Man, he seemed to have quite the effect on the people in Karma's life. Did he do something wrong? Did they know who he was? What was the issue? At least Aoi liked him, and he supposed that was all that mattered considering he was the only person Karma seemed to listen to. Which was funny, because his life was pretty much dictated by a toddler. “You keep that dad of yours outta trouble, y'hear?” 

Aoi nodded shyly, giggling and wrapping his tiny arms around Karma’s waist tightly, burying his face into his papa’s shirt to hide. That seemed a little unlike the child, but Gakushuu hadn’t seen him in a public setting interacting with strangers before; maybe it wasn’t all that odd. Once she was gone, Gakushuu looked over the menu, eyes widening at the prices… this was expensive. What the fuck was Karma thinking!? Why did a salad cost nine dollars!? What was wrong with this place? Being the simple man he was, he never went out to nice restaurants during his college years or anything like that… his father never took him out when he was younger either, even though he owned some. They had a chef for that, after all. In college, too. Right, maybe that was why he never went out. Still, this was too much!

“Do you think you can tell the waiter what you want this time?” Karma asked his son, who seemed to shrink down in the booth, a light blush on his face. He’d read something online about independence in children and having them do things on their own as per Nagisa's request since he thought Aoi was too clingy and shy for his age—which Karma thought was a load of bullshit because he’s fucking three for Christ’s sake—but he would never push Aoi to do anything he didn’t want to. “It's okay, Aoi. You don't have to.” He was only three, and Karma would never get upset because of that; if his child wasn't comfortable enough to speak, then that was okay. Aoi didn't have to do anything he wasn't ready for. The waiter came and Karma ordered Aoi a chocolate milk, and himself a peach tea. Gakushuu was about to order water, and Karma knew it, so he shot him a subtle glare and subtly kicked him beneath the table. Curse Karma and his perceptiveness. With no other choice, he ordered a strawberry lemonade and the waiter left. “Get what you want. I can afford to splurge every once in a while. It isn't often we even go out like this,” he admitted softly, reaching over and ruffling up Aoi's unruly red hair. Just like his mother's: fluffy, wavy, and thick. 

“You just met me…” Gakushuu pointed out with a frown, “Why are you doing this?” After everything he'd been through, he couldn't help but be skeptical now that he was sober. Not that he didn't trust Karma, he was just… scared. He didn't want to be toyed with again. 

Thankfully Karma understood this and took no offense at all. “There's just something about you… I don't know. But I feel like I can trust you, more than most people, at least. If I couldn't, no way in hell would I have brought you into my home and put my son's life in danger. You just… seem like a good person, I guess.”

A good… person? Anyone who knew him back in his hometown would have never said anything of the sort to him; he was his father's son, and for some reason people seemed to think they were just alike. But no… his father was a cruel, greedy man; he was charismatic, cunning, and manipulative in the worst kind of way. The type of person who would do whatever he needed to get his way; it didn't matter who stood in his path, he would crush them as he saw fit—innocent or not, men or women, even _children_ for God's sake. He was evil. And that fake smile and attitude of his… it never failed to piss Gakushuu off. No, he wasn't like his father; he refused to stoop as low as him to get his way. Of course there were things he'd done that he wasn't proud of, but he was done doing that. 

Aoi nodded in agreement, beaming at the man. “You're real nice, Shuu!”

Nice… also a foreign term when used to describe him. Despite not wanting to be like his father, he was often times distant and cold to people; even guilty of thinking he was better than them due to the way he was raised. But he was done with that lifestyle… he was turning a new leaf and starting over. This time, he would do it right. This time, he would help people rather than hurt them for his own gain. Starting with this family… he was going to befriend Karma and his son, and help them with whatever they needed. Finally, he would have a real friend… one he could count on, and in turn could count on him. 

“Thank you,” he smiled genuinely, “I'm glad I decided to stop by last night.”

“Me too,” Karma beamed. 

Just like that, things seemed to fall into place. Everything was normal, and they were comfortable, getting to know each other a little better. While they left out their dark pasts for obvious reasons, it was a good start to a budding friendship. For the first time in a while, both men were actually really excited to have a new companion. 

Karma learned that Gakushuu grew up in a very strict, no nonsense household. From the moment he turned five, it was no longer fun and games; he was the next heir to the company and he had to act as such. It seemed like he never really got the chance to be a child and Karma hated that. Being groomed to perfection for something he couldn't even fully comprehend yet… it was sad. Apparently the man had always been cold and distant, only showing interest when he felt Gakushuu did something worth acknowledging—which wasn't often. Unfortunately Karma felt for him with that, as his parents often times acted the same way; though they grew far more disinterested with him as the years ticked by, while Gakuhou only grew more obsessive and uptight. Soon Gakushuu couldn't do anything he wanted in fear of his father finding out. It was nice to hear Gakushuu had dreams of his own at one point, though… aside from world domination, which Karma laughed extremely hard at, Gakushuu wanted to be a doctor—more specifically, a pediatrician—just like his mom. Whatever happened to her, he didn't say… but Karma could tell it was bad, and that was disheartening. 

Honestly, a lot Gakushuu's past reminded Karma of someone he used to be very, very close with, but he couldn't think about that. Not anymore. The past had to stay in the past. It was for the best... 

And Gakushuu learned all kinds of things about Karma, and a lot of them weren't happy. He grew up in a town he couldn't remember the name of—due to the drugs, not that he said anything about those—and his parents weren't too entirely fond of him. Karma explained that he never really knew why they didn't like him, just that they didn't. As a child, that really hurt and he tried to do anything possible to gain their love and affection, to no avail; but he'd long since accepted that it wasn't his fault. They were just two people who never should have had a baby. Which led to the question of the man he'd met that day, and he proudly told him that was his adoptive father, but was more of a father than the biological one ever was. He explained that he was a rough kid growing up, having to fend for himself, doing stupid shit, such as picking fights like an idiot. Even Karma had to admit he was a fucking stupid kid, but Gakushuu didn't blame him… it wasn't his fault he didn't have any positive influence in his life. It was humorous, though, the things Karma did as a teenager… while they weren't exactly good things, they were kind of funny, like when he apparently snuck really, really hot peppers or spicy mustard or wasabi into the food of people he didn't like. Pure genius. Then Karma explained how he ran away to be with his father at fourteen, and then moved to their current town when he was fifteen, which was when he finally calmed down.

It had been far too long since they'd really had to introduce themselves to someone new with the intention of becoming something more than mere acquaintances; it was just as much exciting than it was terrifying. Honestly, they were putting a lot of trust in a person they'd just met… but it felt okay. This was definitely a good start to their friendship. Nothing too entirely personal was divulged, but they definitely felt like they knew and had a better understanding of each other after hearing how they'd grown up. As a matter of fact, they weren't all that different from each other. They both came to this town to start over; Karma already had, and he was going to help Gakushuu do the same, because no one should have to be forced into being something they weren't. Not when he was fully capable of becoming whatever he wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. 
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes and thanks for reading, kudos, and comments.


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